Star Trek and Star Wars I: The Merging
by Star Empire
Summary: The galaxies of the Star Trek and Star Wars universes are merged into a single galaxy. The Republic and the various Star Trek civilizations must adapt to the new order.
1. The Last Days

This is a heavily revised version of my first fanfic (and actually it's the second version of the revision) and will hopefully be the first of a six-part crossover story. I would like to thank X-Over for proofreading the original copy of this story for me. His input was extremely helpful and motivating.

Note: The first 13 reviews (while all good) were for different versions of this story.

Note 2: The version of Episode II that is up, follows the original version of this story rather than this version. It will be altered after I complete this. Hope you enjoy reading.

Eric

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away and in our own galaxy in the 24th century

Star Trek and Star Wars

Episode I

The Merging

It's a dark time for the Republic. Led by Count Dooku, the Separatists are gaining ground. Thousands of worlds are making preparations to leave the millennia old institution. On Geonosis, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Senator Padme Amidala have been captured. A large group of Jedi are now preparing to leave Coruscant to rescue their companions.

In the Milky Way, the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire are deep in a war for their very survival. The Dominion outnumbers them in the Alpha Quadrant and thousands of reinforcements sit on the other side of the Bajoran Wormhole. The Federation's only defense against this new, unstoppable fleet are a few thousand mines.

Intelligence suggesting the Dominion has found a way to deactivate the mines has forced the Federation to attempt a risky recapture of their former wormhole base, Deep Space 9. Together with the Klingons, the Federation is winning this critical battle, and the U.S.S. Defiant has slipped through enemy lines, but the Dominion is almost ready to destroy the mines…

* * *

Chapter 1: The Last Days

A sovereign class ship drifted in orbit of a planet. The ship carried the name Enterprise, a name reserved for ships which were expected to perform remarkable deeds. It was also a symbol of the new Starfleet. While elegant and filled with scientific marvels, it was designed to be a highly effective warship as well. Despite its name and its advanced design, it sat in Romulan space while the battle to determine the Federation's future was taking place half a quadrant away.

Captain Picard could barely stand to look at the viewscreen, but he couldn't look away either. He was watching the fate of the Federation unfold in front of him. The viewscreen showed thousands of blue dotted Federation ships, red dotted Klingon warships, and purple dotted Dominion forces.

Data spoke, "Captain, while the Dominion lines are holding a single starship appears have broken through and is heading away from the battle to Deep Space 9."

Riker asked, "Which ship?"

"The Defiant sir."

"It won't be a match for the station alone," said Riker. "Anyone else?"

"Not at the moment," said Data. "The Dominion lines are shrinking, but they are managing to prevent additional ships from breaking through."

"I wish the Klingons had managed to get a part of their fleet cloaked through the lines," said Riker.

Picard nodded. "It's not like the Klingons to avoid an engagement though even if they can. They'll break through soon enough." Picard heard a shout behind him. He turned around.

"They better hurry," said Riker.

Picard didn't see anything usual, but he started to hear a whole chorus of shouts.

"At this rate," started Data, but Picard didn't hear the end of the sentence.

The bridge of the Enterprise was gone. In its place was a mid-21 century court room. From all corners of the room, the audience shouted at him. "Q!" shouted Picard.

Q appeared directly in front of Picard, floating down in judge clothes and in a judge chair. "Mom Captain, welcome back."

"Q!" started Picard, "Why am I in this courtroom again? Twice, I have been forced here, and have proven that humanity has evolved beyond its savage past."

"How many times must I tell you, Jean-Luc? The trial has never ended. The question of how far humanity has evolved has never satisfactorily been answered."

It had been years since Picard had last seen Q, and he had thought he was done with him. This time Q would be answering questions too Picard decided. "Another test? Q, what has humanity ever done to deserve such special attention? You have said the Q worry about how far humanity may advance, but I find it hard to believe that there aren't others who should concern the Continuum just as much. Why so much attention on us?"

Q shouted, "He finally asks a good question!"

The crowd laughed loudly, and Q had to hold his had up to quiet them, and then spoke in a much quieter tone. "Why do think I don't, Jean-Luc? I must do something with my time between visits with you, you know."

Speaking to the entire crowd again, Q said, "How do you know I haven't had trials for ten thousand races since we last met here?" The crowd laughed uncontrollably.

Picard spoke somberly. The thought of Q or the Continuum doing that to so many troubled him greatly, but he didn't believe it. "I don't know, Q." His voice became firmer. "But, I do know you've always seemed to have a special interest in humanity. I know there are many other races we've encountered with similar drives and desires, and I don't think you care to put a single one of them on trial."

Q floated right up to Picard's ear and then whispered, "You're right. Humanity is one of the few races ever to have been on trial by the Q."

"Why?" asked Picard.

"Can't you just pretend to use your mind? You didn't even try to think of a reason." There was fresh round of laughter from the audience.

"How am I supposed to know the reason you keep putting us on trial?"

Q looked at Picard like a parent losing patience with a child and said, "You're not, but you could at least attempt to use that device you call a brain before asking me to connect all the dots for you."

"OK, then why?"

Q suddenly became very serious. The crowd quieted. "Jean-Luc, I discovered a plan just before our first meeting. A group, a powerful group, has hatched a very dangerous plan. The reward if such a plan is successful would be wondrous for your entire universe. On the other hand, failure would be," Q paused a moment and then said, "disastrous."

"What does that have to do with humanity?" asked Picard.

"I found out that individuals from both branches of humanity are important to their plans."

"Both branches of humanity?"

"That's not important now. The point is humanity is instrumental to the success of their plan. If human nature at its very core what you claim it is, then the plan will be successful, if it's lacking, the whole universe will pay the price."

Understanding started to feel Picard, answering questions he'd felt had never been answered about Q before. "So you wanted to see if humanity was up to the challenge. Why me? Why the Enterprise? Are any members of my crew important to their plans? Am I?"

Q raised his voice again, "He asks if he is important." Laughter resumed. "No Jean-Luc; as far as I can tell, you are not part of their plans. You were merely whom we used to test humanity."

"Who is this group? What is their plan?"

"Their plan is 'the Merging.' What that means matters little right now."

"Dammit Q. For once please just give a straight answer. Why did you bring me here if you don't plan on telling me anything about them?"

"To give you a choice."

"A choice?" repeated Picard.

"Yes Jean-Luc. The Continuum can stop this group. If we act now, we can prevent this 'Merging' from occurring."

"How am I supposed to decide to stop it, when I know nothing about it?"

"You know enough. You know it can end in disaster or great success and that humanity is key. If humanity is worthy of being found not-guilty in this trial than you will succeed. If it's not, then the entire universe will pay the price."

"It is not my place to decide this for the entire universe," stated Picard firmly.

"Yet the decision is yours," said Q. "You were accused in this courtroom of being a barbarous child race. We can end the trial today. If you plead guilty, the punishment will be light. We will do nothing besides stop the Prophets from following through with their plan."

"The Prophets?" said Picard, trying to think where he heard that name.

"Never mind that," said Q. "Do you plead guilty?"

Picard didn't like the spot he was in, but he was not going to be forced into a guilty plea. He shook his head. "Absolutely not."

Q shouted to the laughter of the courtroom, "Then the trial continues!"

"Wait!" said Picard.

"Do you wish to change your plea?"

"No, but…"

"Then there is nothing else to say, Mon Captain. The Q will remain neutral. The universe's fate will rest on humanity."

"Q, this is not what I decided."

"I'm afraid it is Jean-Luc. Now I'll let you get back to watching your little battle. The mines are about to be destroyed."

"Destroyed. Q, wait!…" But he was gone.

Picard was back on the bridge of the Enterprise.

Data continued, "…the fleet should break through within the next 10 minutes."

Picard heard Data, but the words of Q still rang in his mind. The mines were about to be destroyed… Picard feared the Federation might be entering its last days.

* * *

A long way from Picard and the future regional conflict in the Milky Way, the planet of Geonosis orbited its star same as it had for millions of years. In most respects, nothing had changed. The planet was still a desert planet with minimal life. Its days and years were still about the same length they'd been for all of recorded history. To the intelligent life on the planet though, the planet's status had changed completely. It was now the capital of a movement to break away from the Republic.

Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight and defender of that Republic, sat in a cell. Even for a Jedi, it was impenetrable. His companion in the cell was Padme Amidala. The two had sat in the cell for an hour, knowing their fate was unlikely to be good. They were scheduled to be executed before the day was over.

Padme had kept up a brave front. She was a natural leader and had really taken charge since the two had been captured. Her courage and her determination in the face of overwhelming obstacles was one of the things Anakin loved about her. All the same, he could feel her fear. If she had been a Jedi, she would have felt his too.

Sentenced to die or not though, Anakin was not about to waste time with the girl he loved. He asked a question he had been wondering about for awhile, "Why exactly were you called a queen?"

"A long tradition," said Padme. "Until about a thousand years ago, the titles were passed from parent to child. They still shared power with the legislature, but it was a true constitutional monarchy. After a civil war they were forced to give up the power. People were still used to the idea of a king or queen though so we started electing them."

"Why the young age?" asked Anakin. Padme had seemed old to him when he had first encountered her, but 10 years later she was almost the youngest one in the Senate.

"The legislature wanted to make sure no king or queen took too much power. They figured no one that young would be much of a threat."

Anakin smirked. "They weren't counting on you then."

Padme gave Anakin a look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Anakin grinned, "Just that there are some young girls who might give the politicians a run for their money."

Padme shook her head.

"When did you decide to run for queen?" asked Anakin.

Padme smiled remembering better times. "I was discussing politics with a few of my friends in the legislative youth program - arguing with them to be more precise. It was silly really. We were arguing about whether or not the terms of the king/queen should be extended, or kept the same. I thought they should be kept as they were, but the other four all thought they should be longer. By the end, I had all but one convinced. He said with persuasion skills like that, I should run for queen. That was the first time I ever considered it, but couldn't get it out of my head afterward. I thought I could do more good for Naboo and the Republic than anyone else I saw running. So, I entered the race."

A new voice echoed behind them. "It is sad that the same Republic you wished to serve turned a blind eye on you when the Trade Federation attacked."

Anakin quickly responded, "It's too bad you now work for them, Dooku."

"I'd say it's more like we have a short term common goal. We both wish to end the Republic as we know it." If they only knew how badly he wanted to be rid of those aliens. "I did not support their actions on Naboo."

"Neither the Jedi, nor the chancellor will sit back while you try to dismantle the Republic, Dooku." replied Anakin.

"Of course, they won't," said Dooku. "It's too late though. They don't have the armies to oppose us, and it will take too long to recruit and train them."

Anakin was very defiant. "The people will not sit back while you try to do this." Padme looked more worried.

"Come now young Skywalker and use your brain, not your emotions. All the people will see is planet after planet fall. It will take time for the Republic to build up to a level even cable of defending against us. Without a major victory, with an offer to return all loyal Republic members, and a chance to stop a war that is costing the lives of billions, do you really think the majority will continue to support the war? Even your friend Palpatine won't be strong enough to resist the pressure. He will have to meet our demands or be replaced."

"So is that your plan Dooku?" said Anakin.

Dooku scowled at the Jedi. Anakin still wasn't showing the proper respect. What was the Jedi Order allowing these days?

"Maybe," he replied noncommittally. "Or maybe, I have a far more rewarding plan worked out." Dooku thought of revealing Palpatine's promises to the doomed Jedi, but decided against it. He thought about how ironic it was that he knew so much more about the Republic, its forces, and its leader than this Jedi and this powerful senator. "You can decide that for yourself, but unless you have a highly trained 10 billion man army hiding somewhere, I think the Republic is entering its last days."

Padme shivered. She had spent her life in politics and she was far from sure he was wrong.

Anakin was more confrontational, "You forget Dooku. All we have to do is destroy you and your master."

"How naive," said Dooku, but before he could say anymore, he felt his communicator vibrate. That was Sidious which was unexpected. Why would his master be contacting him now? "I afraid I most go. Enjoy your last day and know the Republic as you know it has few left."

Dooku left.

Anakin looked to Padme. "We will win this. The Jedi will not be defeated."

Padme looked back at him. She loved how Anakin was always so confident. He made the impossible seem possible. She still worried about Dooku's words; they seemed quite plausible. With Anakin here beside her though, she held out just a little hope that the impossible might just be possible and that the Republic might not quite be in its last days.


	2. The Merging

Chapter 2: The Merging

There are a couple of words that can accurately describe space: empty, cold, and of course, vast. The distance between stars within galaxies made even the largest supergiants seem tiny by comparison. Despite this fact though, it is possible for life to travel between these seemingly infinite distances in even their short life times. The energy and knowledge necessary for a species to achieve this ability is extraordinarily high. Few civilizations make it to this level without being amazed at their own accomplishments. Afterward though, once faster than light is no longer new, even those speeds can start to seem too slow. On board the USS Defiant, rather than focusing on how fast the ship was now going, the crew was focusing on how slow maximum warp was.

Dax looked at the time. "Ben, if I were you I would start coming up with a Plan B."

"ETA?" asked Sisko.

"Two minutes," replied Dax.

Sisko nodded. "Commander, be prepared to ram the station."

Dax looked at him and then nodded. "Yes sir."

Sisko addressed whole the bridge. "We aren't a match for Deep Space 9, not alone. The Federation is counting on us slowing the Dominion down though. Hopefully we can count on some help from those on the station who still remember us well. In the meantime, we have to do everything we can to slow the Dominion down until the fleet arrives. Is that understood?"

Everyone acknowledged that it was. They all knew the stakes and they all knew time was of the

essence.

"We are coming out of warp in 10 seconds Captain," said Dax.

The viewscreen's look changed as the Defiant came out of warp. There was the station looking the same as when they left it. Something was different though.

Behind the station, thousands of explosions were going off. After a few moments, the light from the explosions stopped. The mines were gone. They were too late.

Dax said, "What do we do now captain?"

Sisko was not one to sit back accept the inevitable. If the Federation was about to die, they would go down fighting to save it or maybe….well either way this would be the end. "Take us into the wormhole."

O'Brien, more than a little shocked, said, "What the hell, we're just going to meet a couple thousand Dominion ships."

Dax wasn't impressed either. "One ship vs. a whole fleet, that's one hell a Plan B."

"Chief, how does that poem end?" It was Garak.

"You don't want to know," said O'Brien, trying to avoid thinking of the words to one of the most famous failures of all time.

The Defiant went through the wormhole. It had traveled through the wormhole more than any other starship. The wormhole had been this crew's discovery. In a way, it was fitting that it should end here.

"Full stop," said Sisko. "Chief, divert all power to forward shields and weapons."

Dax reported, "Captain, I'm reading multiple warp signatures ahead."

"On screen, Maximum magnification."

Thousands of Dominion ships filled the screen. Sisko knew what he was looking at. This single fleet was better than three times the size of the one the largest Federation/Klingon fleet ever assembled was barely beating and it was only the beginning of what the Dominion could send through if it decided more was needed.

Sisko looked at the fleet, and then looked past them into the future. What he saw chilled him to the bone. He saw the end of the Federation. With these reinforcements, they would be at Earth in no time. He could see Jem'Hadar patrolling the streets in front of his father's restaurant. His mind's eye saw a Dominion flag flying in front of Starfleet Command. He saw kids being left as orphans as their parents were executed for being suspected members of resistance cells. He could see the Federation's resources, its ships, its shipyards, and factories being turned into part of the Dominion's war machine. They would be used to conquer others.

Defeat had always been the most likely outcome, but it had never been inevitable. Now that wasn't true anymore. The entire Federation, what it had stood for, there would soon be nothing left. "Lock phasers. Prepare to launch quantum torpedoes."

And then his life was lifted from that plain of existence. The Prophets. As he felt himself in their realm, he got the sense that they wouldn't help, that matters like wars didn't interest them. "Why have you brought me here? Show yourselves. What do you want?"

A figure that looked like Odo appeared. "The Sisko has returned to us." Others started appearing and again disappearing as well. His surroundings looked like DS9, but that of course was an illusion.

Jake: He has arrived with questions.

Kira: There are always questions.

"I didn't ask to come here."

Dukat: You desire to end the game.

"What game? I don't understand."

Weyoun: You wish to end your corporal existence.

Damar: That cannot be allowed.

Odo: The game must not end.

"The game. You mean my life. Is that what this is about? You don't want me to die?"

Dukat: The game must continue.

Weyoun: You are the Sisko.

"Believe me. I don't want to die, but I have to do everything I can to prevent the Dominion from conquering the Alpha Quadrant. If that means sacrificing my life and the life of my crew so be it."

Jake: We do not agree.

Kira: We find your reasoning flawed.

Odo: Insufficient.

"I'm flattered you feel that way but it doesn't change anything. Now send me back to my ship."

The scene did change. He was on the Defiant, but not the real one. "This isn't what I meant. I want to return to my reality."

Damar: You are the Sisko.

"I am also a Starfleet captain. I have a job to do, and I intend to do it."

Weyoun: The Sisko is belligerent.

Dukat: Aggressive.

Damar: Adversarial.

"You're damn right I'm adversarial. You have no right to interfere in my life."

Kira: We have every right.

"Fine, you want to interfere, then interfere. Do something about those Dominion reinforcements.

Odo: That is a corporeal matter.

Dukat: Corporeal matters do not concern us.

"The hell they don't. What about Bajor? You can't tell me Bajor doesn't concern you. You sent the Bajorans orbs and emissaries. You even encouraged them to create an entire religion around you. You even told me once you were of Bajor. So don't you tell me you're not concerned with corporeal matters."

"I don't want to see Bajor destroyed, neither do you, but we know that is exactly what is going to happen if the Dominion takes over the Alpha Quadrant."

Odo: He will not listen.

Damar: We cannot take him.

Kira: He is not choosing to join us.

Dukat: He cannot be allowed to end the game.

Weyoun: It must start at this Sisko's corporeal moment.

Bewildered, Sisko asked, "What, what must start?"

Kira: The Merging.

Sisko was back on the Defiant. It was the real one this time. He looked up at the viewscreen to see the Dominion fleet. Before he could say anything, he was forced to the floor as the ship was thrown from the wormhole. "Report."

Dax who had also been throw from her seat, pushed herself back to her chair. She hit a few buttons in confusion. "We have been thrown just outside the Bajoran system captain."

"And the Dominion?" said Sisko.

Dax shook her head. "I'm not sure."

"Put the wormhole on screen."

The viewscreen switched to showing the location of the wormhole. Ten seconds passed and it didn't open, then 20, then 30, then a full minute.

"Report on the fleet," said Sisko.

O'Brien responded. "Another wave has broken through and will be here in less than 5 minutes."

"Captain," said Dax. "Something has got to be wrong with sensors."

Sisko walked up to his old friend. "What is it?"

"I'm reading thousands of additional stars in the sector. It's like the star count just doubled."

"The Prophets," said Sisko.

Everyone looked to him. Sisko dismissed the thought and ignored the glances. They still needed to take DS9 and get the mines reestablished. He didn't know what the Prophets had done and didn't know if it would be permanent. "What is Deep Space 9's status?"

Dax checked the readings. "If sensors are accurate, their shields are up at all full strength, but their weapons are now offline."

Sisko smiled. "Well done Major." He sat back down. "Take us back to the station and prepare to engage."

"What do you mean that…" Anakin stopped mid-sentence and sat upright. Seeing the change of expression on his face made Padme worry. "Anakin." He didn't respond. "Anakin, what's wrong?"

Anakin stared at her for a moment. "Something just happened."

"What?"

"I don't know."


	3. Total Chaos

Chapter 3: Total Chaos

On Coruscant, Jedi Master Mace Windu was just about to give the order to lift off. Yoda had already left to retrieve the clone army, but the rest of the Jedi were still here. Before he could say anything though, he felt a massive disturbance in the Force. It was like being hit by a Wookie. He had never felt anything that even compared.

Mace just sat in his seat. He tried to make sense of what he had just felt, but it was impossible to do so. A disturbance of that magnitude had to have affected an extremely large area. It was like the whole universe, or perhaps the Force itself, suddenly had just cried out in shock.

Mace wasn't sure what to do. He looked around and saw that the other Jedi in the ship seemed as stunned and shocked as he. Mace remembered his training well. Concentrate on the here and now. He stopped concentrating on the larger universe and just focused on his own immediate surroundings. He couldn't afford to be so absorbed in the larger picture that he lost focus on what was right in front of him. Something much closer could be threatening, and as distracted as they were, every Jedi here might miss it.

Mace sensed the confusion of the other Jedi. He felt beyond them to citizens of the planet. There was no mass panic or anything unordinary for the moment. He focused his mind into the space above Coruscant and nothing seemed too unfamiliar there. Satisfied that there was no immediate danger, Mace walked to the front of the ship to check with the pilot.

When he got there, he felt confusion in the pilot, which was unexpected since he was not a Jedi. The pilot turned to the Jedi Master and said, "Master Windu, I had permission to lift off, but have since been ordered to remain here. I'm not sure why."

Something was going on in the galaxy. "It appears that Obi-Wan is going to have to wait."

* * *

From The Emergence of a New Galaxy: A Brief History of the Milky Bi-Galaxy Following the Merging

By Nerns Lance

Copyright: Kendra Province, Bajoran Provisional Government. 2394 AD.

Translated into English 2422 AD. Used with Permission.

Chapter 2: Panicked Responses to the Merging

What caused the Merging is an issue that is still debated to this day. While the prominent belief among Bajorans is that the Prophets caused it to protect Bajor, there is no certain answer. The reactions of the various space-faring races to it in the first moments of the Milky Bi-Galaxy are less up to interpretation.

To help some of our younger readers understand just how terrified citizens of both galaxies were, imagine this: You are safe alone in your home, and all of a sudden, your house looks completely different. It is filled with items you did not leave there and there are several aliens inside. This is how civilizations all over the galaxy felt following the Merging.

The reactions of the space-faring civilizations varied considerably, but understandably, there was a lot of violence. Most civilizations, which detected thousands of ships seemingly magically appear within their space, initially thought that they were under attack. Many (although still a tiny minority) responded by firing on everything they saw. It is estimated that as many as 30,000 small battles occurred within 15 minutes of the Merging.

Generally speaking, the ex-Milky Way civilizations were the ones attacking and Republic ships were the defenders. This was largely true because of the different experiences of the two galaxies. In almost all cases, Milky Way worlds had more reason to fear invasion than their Republic counterparts. Few within the Milky Way had knowledge of much the galaxy beyond their own borders, many had territorial disputes with neighbors, and all had reason to fear the vast unknowns of the galaxy. By contrast, Republic worlds had existed in such a large and stable institution for so long that the concept of an external invasion seemed absurd.

* * *

Delta Quadrant, Republic/Kazon Space - Claimed by Halik Sect

The First Maje received word that an unknown ship had somehow penetrated right to the middle of his space. He ordered his ship to destroy the intruder. The Kazon powered their weapons and approached the vessel. Unfortunately for the Kazon, they were mistaken in assuming the smaller ship was less equipped than themselves. The ship raised shields before it was fired on and quickly returned fire. The Kazon were little match for the turbolasers and ion canons coming at them.

* * *

Gamma Quadrant -Dominion/Republic Space

A dozen Dominion patrol ships were keeping guard of one of the Dominion's larger cloning facilities. As they detected a large ship appear on their sensors, no questions were asked. Immediately, the Jem'Hadar warships set a course for it. Thirty seconds later, they were within weapons range. All 12 ships fired immediately. The ship's shields held for a moment, until a smaller Jem'Hadar vessel did a suicide run against the ship. After that, the Jem'Hadar beamed over and took control of the ruined vessel.

* * *

Galactic Center – Republic/Corta Space

Coruscant was a city planet. More than any other planet in the galaxy, it represented stability and order. From here, the decisions which would affect an entire galaxy were made. Even in this system which symbolized galactic order however, chaos was rampant. Coruscant's defenses were brought to their maximum alert level as the planets sensors detected starling changes around them.

Admiral Robinson watched his sensors closely as a ship of an unknown design entered the system. The ship was flying at speeds faster than light, but not in hyperspace.

"Stand by weapons. If they get any closer than half an AU from Coruscant, fire immediately."

His weapons officer acknowledged the orders quickly.

His sensor officer hit a few buttons. "Admiral, the ship has slowed and appears to be attempting to contact us."

The Corta Alliance would be the Republic's first official first contact with a new galaxy.

* * *

Delta Quadrant – Borg/Republic Space

Vessel design unknown. Species unknown. Weapons analyzed. Weapons inefficient to penetrate cube defenses. Cube 13569 assimilate. "We are the Borg, lower your shields and surrender your vessel. Your technological and biological distinctiveness will be added to our own. Resistance is Futile." Vessel attempting to leave system. Firing weapons. Shields down. Lock tractor beam. Assimilate vessel. Add technological and biological distinctiveness to our own.

* * *

On Coruscant, things were a mess. It had only been half an hour since the event (as it was becoming known), and they were receiving millions of distress and emergency calls. The government had never anticipated or planned for anything of this magnitude occurring. The Senate, which had been in session, had been evacuated in case this was some form of attack. The individual members were now in what were considered safe areas, and trying to figure out what was going on.

A great number of rumors had started going around the planet. One was that giant planet-sized ships were currently destroying whole systems. Another more humorous rumor was that a Republic scientist had been working on a new hyperdrive and had somehow transported the whole galaxy to this new place.

Chancellor Palpatine, for his part, had refused to leave the government chambers for safer corridors, preferring to remain as close to the information coming in as possible. He was currently in a control room which was being used to coordinate the systems defenses and gather as much information as possible from other systems.

A lead scientist broke away from an argument and approached the leader of the Republic. "Chancellor, if I may have a moment."

"Of course," said Palpatine.

"Sir, we still are working on the details, but I think we have enough evidence to suggest another galaxy, another spiral galaxy, has somehow merged with our own."

"How is that possible?"

"We don't know. There was certainly no galaxy about to collide with our own. Still, reports we are getting from all over the galaxy are suggesting the star count has nearly doubled everywhere."

Palpatine nodded and turned to his military commander. "These encounters we've had. How do the other species compare to ourselves?"

"Chancellor, it's far too early to say anything of that sort. We..."

Palpatine interrupted him. "I am aware it's all speculation at this point, but I would still appreciate an answer. Do they appear to have caused this event?"

The general sighed. "They have some faster than light device we have never seen before. On the other hand, we've scanned their ships and, for the most part, they seem primitive. It doesn't appear that all species are from the same government and they seem - I emphasize the word seem- just as confused as we are. So, no, my initial guess would be they didn't cause this."

Palpatine nodded. "Inform the senators that this does not appear to be attack and several primitive species seem just as confused about this as us."

The general was furious. "But we don't know that yet. Chancellor, I've had about 20 minutes to review this so far. There is far too little evidence..."

"General, I appreciate your concerns, but anything that will get the senate and other leaders to calm down now will do us no harm. I also want to be doing a galactic broadcast within the next 10 minutes."

"Yes sir."

* * *

On Geonosis, Anakin was the only Jedi in the galaxy who had stopped thinking about the massive disturbance in the Force. As the chariot led him to his certain death, he kissed Padme. In so many ways, the moment was terrible. They were about to be killed. The Separatists may well have the means and will to destroy all they both stood for.

In another equally real way though, the moment was perfect. There was no longer any hiding what they felt for each other. There were no longer any questions about what was allowed or proper. For a single moment, the only thing that mattered to both of them was that they loved each other. Nothing, not even a death sentence, could overshadow that fact.

After their lips parted, the couple got a look at where they're heading…or not heading? No sooner had the chariot left with them than it had turned around. They were heading back where they had come from. Padme asked, "Where are we going?"

"I don't know," Anakin responded. Did it have something to do with that disturbance in the Force? That had to be it. What in the galaxy was going on?

* * *

Palpatine sat in his chair in his office. He was told he was on and started.

"Greetings to all citizens of the Republic and all else who receive this transmission. For everyone receiving this not from my galaxy, I am Chancellor Palpatine representing the Galactic Republic which is made up of most the planets in our galaxy."

"As almost everyone is already aware, a major event has occurred. We here on Coruscant are doing our best to find out what has happened. It seems that our galaxy and that of another have somehow merged into one. The centers of both our galaxies are in about the same location, and the spiral arms follow similar courses as well. I would like to assure everyone that this does not appear to be an attack and would ask that restraint be shown by ships from both galaxies until we can sort things out."

"This merging threw many, if not all our ships, out of hyperspace. This was fortunate because without every additional star, planet, moon, and other astronomical phenomenon in the computers, every jump would be the equivalent of a blind jump. There could have been millions of deaths. For the time being, all ships in the Republic are ordered not to engage their hyperdrives. We will update our computers with every new item as soon as possible, but for the time being, I must insist this rule be obeyed. If you find yourself under attack or in an emergency situation use it carefully."

"Coruscant is capable of going through the numerous messages we are now getting. However, the sheer number of signals is slowing down response time to the true emergencies. I ask that, for the time being, citizens, ships, and member planets of the Republic only contact Coruscant if there is an emergency. Also, if anyone listening to this believes you know what has caused this event please contact us. If you are not from my galaxy, just ask a Republic ship for help if you are otherwise unable to reach Coruscant. I will contact the galaxy once again when we find out what's going on. Thank you everyone."

* * *

Benjamin Sisko walked into in his office on Deep Space 9. It felt good to be back. He walked to his desk and picked up his baseball. He smiled a little and threw it into the air.

As he caught the ball, his smile faded. What had the Prophets done? Sisko thought of their words. Most of it he didn't really understand, but one part of it came back to him quickly. They said he wasn't choosing to join them. What in the hell was that supposed to mean?


	4. The First Day

Chapter 4: The First Day

Coruscant, Galactic Republic

No one on Coruscant had ever heard the expression, running like chickens with their heads cut off. If they had though, they would have thought it was an apt description of the state of the planet. The Senate had not yet reconvened, but Senators were constantly on the holonet and in face to face meetings in their secure locations trying to figure out what was going on, what to do, and, of course, grandstanding. The media, for its part, was reporting wild rumor after wild rumor even after Palpatine asked them to stop. Ships from both galaxies were flowing into the system, trying to make contact with this galactic center. In the case of Republic ships, this was still against government orders, but no one could really stop them.

Only Chancellor Palpatine, the Jedi, and military command seemed to be remaining fairly calm. Palpatine was meeting with Jedi and military leaders to discuss security at the moment.

"Chancellor," said Admiral Greece, "If we ignore distress calls in this time of need from members worlds, we are risking the very foundation of the Republic."

General Yow, the head of security in the Coruscant area interrupted. "The Corta have a military base with more than 1,000 ships less than 2 lightyears away. There appears to be dozens of other species with their own fleets spread throughout the center of the galaxy. I cannot guarantee the protection of Coruscant, let alone the rest of the core if you are throwing ships around the galaxy. I not sure I can even guarantee it if you don't."

Admiral Greece spoke again, "The shields will protect Coruscant if need be and we can send back the fleet, but these planets are in desperate need now!"

"The shields were never meant to be anything but a final defense," said Yow. "Further we don't understand the technology of these species. They may well have a way around the shields that we don't know about."

Chancellor Palpatine put up his hand. "It is clear that there are quite valid concerns with positioning the fleet in the core versus the mid-regions. I do agree with General Yow that we have to strengthen our position in the core before we can afford to send out large number of ships outside the region."

"But Chancellor..." stared Greece.

"But," said Palpatine, "we cannot ignore the distress calls either. Master Windu what do you think of the idea of setting up temporary defensive alliances with the Corta and a few other select species whose space coincides with vital worlds?"

The Jedi had been silent for most of the conversation, believing it best to let the general and admiral get their frustrations out of the way, but now spoke up. "It does have the advantage of turning a potential threat into an ally. We would need to make sure it was purely defensive. I suggest letting the Jedi do the negotiations."

"Agreed," said Palpatine. "Master Windu, timing is of the essence. As soon as we are done here General Yow will transmit the coordinates, please hurry."

Windu nodded. "Is hyperspace safe?"

"We are updating the core region to computers now. You should be fine." Palpatine turned back to the military leaders. "After we have secured alliances where are the areas most in need of reinforcements?"

Greece brought up a galactic map. "We are still trying to fill in many parts of the galaxy."

Palpatine nodded, "Contact the homeworlds of all Senate representatives and put them in charge of mapping their regions, both astronomical and political, and report back."

"Yes sir," said Greece. He highlighted a specific region of the galaxy about midway out. "This is the area of most concern. We've had hundreds of ships attacked here and the attacks haven't stopped. Additionally, we've received distress calls from 8 planets saying they are being invaded. We've completely lost contact with all of them."

"Are they being attacked by the same government?" asked Windu.

"Yes," said Yen. "The species calls itself the Borg. I've tasked a few ships in the region to get more information from other locals, but I don't yet even know where their space begins and ends."

Palpatine nodded. "Master Windu, we will try for diplomatic solution to these many concerns, but I'm afraid the military is going to be needed many places. Can I count on the Jedi to lead our forces?"

"Of course Chancellor."

* * *

The space between stars is vast and empty. Given stars relative size, few other things in the universe can compare to the distance between them. In the vast space between several stars, the starship Hazardous Relief sat. It was a large cargo ship, carrying some of the most advanced medical equipment in the galaxy. That equipment should have already been delivered. Due to the effects of the Merging though, the ship sat in the dead of space with its captain unwilling to reactivate the hyperdrive.

"Captain, a ship is coming towards us fast. It's using one of those weird faster than light drives."

The captain gulped. He wasn't a diplomat and not a fighter either. "Don't raise shields yet. I don't want a fight if I can help it, not with no way to get out."

"The ship has slowed to sub-light speed and appears to be attempting to communicate."

The captain, extremely nervous and showing it, nodded. "Put them through."

A type of alien the captain had never seen before appeared. The alien spoke, "This is Daimon Letek representing the Ferengi Alliance. With whom am I speaking with?"

"I am Captain Roberts. I've never heard of the Ferengi Alliance before."

The Ferengi nodded. "Understandable given the shape of the galaxy."

"I suppose so," said Roberts.

"Captain," said Letek, "We couldn't help but notice you appear to be stuck out here. The Ferengi Alliance has been working since this event took place to get accurate star charts, at least for this region, and we would like to offer them to you."

Roberts let go of the breath he had been holding. If he could get to any Republic planet, he'd feel a lot safer. "That would be most kind of you."

"You'll find the Ferengi are a most kind race. Why don't we beam over with our information?"

"Beam?"

"Transporters Captain. We send our representative directly to your ship without a shuttle."

"I see," said Roberts, not fully understanding.

"Actually," said Letek, "a cargo vessel such as your own would likely gain a lot from transporters. We have a working portal transporter we'll bring over. We couldn't part with such an advanced device easily, but perhaps we could trade it for something."

Roberts nodded. As two Ferengi appeared on his ship a minute later, greed finally replaced fear as his dominant emotion.

* * *

Across the galaxy, many people were frightened, upset, or angry with the new realities. Many others were excited for the possibilities. Few however had as much to gain as the crew of the USS Voyager. Voyager had been stuck in the Delta Quadrant, clear across the galaxy from their home, with no quick way to return. While the presence of a "galactic republic" was in some ways frightening, it was an encouraging sign for their personal fortunes.

Voyager itself was a wreck. The ship had been traveling at warp when the event had occurred. Unfortunately, they passed very near a star which had not appeared on their charts and the ship was lucky to survive in one piece. The odds of such an event occurring where extremely small, but Voyager seemed to have a knack for getting in trouble.

Janeway sat down in her chair in her ready room and rubbed her head. She was out of coffee and the replicators still weren't back online. She picked up a pad to look over the latest report when her door chimed.

"Come."

Seven of Nine entered the room.

January motioned to the chair. "Hello Seven. Come and sit down."

"I am comfortable standing."

Janeway nodded. Seven had only been with the crew briefly and Janeway hoped she'd stay around for a bit when they made it back to the Federation. Helping Seven reconnect with her humanity wasn't going to be an easy task and continuity would help a lot. "What can I help you with?"

"I have the latest report from science on travel through the new galaxy and Commander Torres wanted me to report that warp will be back online within 2 hours."

Janeway nodded. "Anything else?"

Seven gulped. "When we return to Starfleet, I have an assessment on the Borg which might prove important."

"The Borg?" said Janeway confused.

"Yes Captain," Seven continued, "I believe this event may cause them to recalculate primary protocols which could result in an increased rate of expansion."

"Were the Borg not expanding at their maximum ability?" asked Janeway shocked.

"No captain. The collective felt that it was a waste of resources to send ships throughout the galaxy. It was assumed that the galaxy would eventually be completely assimilated, but in the meantime, it made little sense to waste ships and resources on over expansion. The Collective would only attack neighboring planets and then strike with overwhelming force. The fleet would remain at the planet until it was fully integrated into the collective. Only then would they move on."

Janeway shook her head. "That doesn't make sense. They attacked Earth. They assimilated you even before that."

"A small handful of cubes have been sent out primarily to scout the galaxy. It is necessary for them to take some planets' resources to maintain the cubes. Assimilation of ships and individuals is required as part of the mission. As for the collective's interest in Earth, that's a separate issue."

"How so?"

"When the collective first encountered the Enterprise, they witnessed a ship appearing and disappearing in a previously unheard of manner. This technology was deemed vital to the collective. Since they found nothing in the Enterprise's computers about it, they went looking for the ship's captain."

Janeway said, "Picard."

"Yes," said Seven. "When they assimilated Picard they learned that it was the Q that were so interested in humanity. This increased Earth on their priority list to the point it was justifiable to send another cube."

"Another?" asked Janeway worried.

"It failed. No further cubes were planned to my knowledge after that."

"Why do you feel the Borg will change their...'protocols'?" said Janeway.

"I can only speculate," said Seven.

"Then speculate," said Janeway.

"Several things will have changed the Borg's calculations. For one, there is now a galactic power which could potentially be a threat. For another, hyperdrive makes it possible for attacks within their space. Finally, there are thousands of worlds within their space that are not assimilated. My expectation would be that the collective will only marginally change their protocols and will begin attacking planets within current Borg space at a more rapid rate, but a number of different outcomes are possible."

* * *

Deep Space 9, Bajoran Space

"To the Emissary!" shouted a Bajoran in Quarks as Sisko walked by. "For ending the war!"

The cheers inside the bar were overwhelming. News had just spread that the war was over, at least temporarily. The Dominion had signed a cease-fire with both the Federation and Klingons. While it wasn't a permanent end to the war, rumors were spreading fast that the Founders were withdrawing to the Gamma Quadrant because of recent events. Sisko doubted the Dominion would go that far, but he didn't see the war resuming anytime soon either.

Sisko, for his part, was lost in thought as he walked around the Promenade. As he walked, Bajorans, humans, Ferengi, Klingons, and others kept coming up to him and congratulating him. Sisko was honored and he shared in their joy. The enormity of what had happened weighed heavily on him as well though. The Prophets had completely altered two galaxies after talking to him. He wouldn't take back what he had said to them; it had saved the Federation and for that, he would risk whatever came next, but that didn't mean he didn't feel a burden because of what had happened.

Sisko walked into the temple, not even realizing he was doing it until he was there.

"Emissary," said the Bajoran at the door. "Have you come to give thanks to the Prophets for delivering us from the Dominion?"

Sisko nodded slowly. He gazed at the orb in the room, one of the nine the Prophets had sent to the Bajorans over the centuries. He knelt beside it. He left his plain of existence again. He was in Ops.

Odo: Is the Sisko ready?

Kira: He is not.

"Ready for what?"

Dax: To accept his role as the Emissary.

Martok: To bring the balance which is lacking.

Nog: To fulfill his destiny.

"How?"

Kira: You must fully become the Emissary.

Dax: Not a Starfleet captain.

Jake: Not a farther.

Martok: You must agree to join us.

"You are asking me to give up everything and I don't even understand what for."

Odo: For your universe.

Sisko shook his head. He had no idea what he was really being asked and he wasn't going to be saying yes without some knowledge. "No. If you want…"

Ben felt himself returning to his world. He looked around. What had the Prophets gotten him into?

* * *

Geonosis, Confederacy of Independents States (disputed claim)

Padme looked to Anakin. "What do you think is going on?"

Anakin shook his head. "They're nervous. Everyone's nervous."

"Is the Republic coming?"

"I don't know. They're really confused."

"So am I?" said Padme. She yawned. She'd been up for too long. Now that death was being pushed back at least a little, she was going to have to sleep. She laid her head down against Anakin. That felt so good, so natural.

Anakin looked at her and made solemn pledge that no matter what was happening, he'd find a way to protect her.

* * *

Not far from Anakin and Padme, the leaders of the Confederacy of Independent State were having a meeting.

"That's 4 worlds we've seen attacked by those 'Borg'," said the leader of the Commerce Guild.

"But they are Republic worlds," said Viceroy Gunray. "They aren't attacking us."

Another Separatist spoke up. "They know nothing of the Republic. That hasn't stopped them from attacking it. We have to assume their intentions are hostile. Count Dooku, what do you sense?"

"If they come here, they will be quite hostile. I suggest we both have our ships ready to fight and ready for evacuations. Most of our starships are too far away to count on if they come with overwhelming force."

The Geonosis representative was outraged. "You can't abandon us."

"If we are attacked we will hold the world if we can. If we can't though, it's better for us to evacuate and be in a better position to retake it later."


	5. Bat out of Hell

Chapter 5: Bat out of Hell

New Padawan learner Jason Moore rushed through the hallways of Jedi Temple. Technically he was already late, but it wasn't like it had been physically possible to make it to the education wing in the time he was given. As he reached the doors, he paused just a minute to catch his breath before walking inside.

"I see you are finally here Padawan Moore. Good. Padawan Scott Moore is already here."

Surprised Jason said, "I'm working with Scott, I mean Padawan Scott Moore?"

The older Jedi, a member of the Jedi Service Corps nodded, seemingly not entirely agreeing with arrangement. "The droids will help you. Call for assistance only if you absolutely need it."

The Jedi left and Jason looked around the room. There had to be around forty 4-year-old younglings. This wasn't exactly what he had been picturing as his first assignment once he became a Padawan.

Across the room, Scott saw him and started to walk over, but was slowed down when one child stopped him. Scott, as was clearly obvious to anyone who saw the two, was Jason's twin brother. Technically, Jason was never supposed to know that, but given they were the same age, looked the same, had the same last name, and both lived in the Jedi Temple, the secret was bound to only remain a secret for so long. While living with different clans, they had seen enough of each other often enough to figure everything out by the time they were 6.

The boys' mentors had explained the dangers of attachment to Jedi and that they should regard each other no differently than anyone else. They had tried, but they thought so much alike that it had been difficult. Their mentors, for their part, usually helped out by not having the two at the same place at the same time. In the rush after the event though, duties had been quickly rearranged and somehow they had both been taken from their masters and reassigned here together.

Scott finally made his way up to Jason. "I'm giving them some free time while we figure out what we do next."

Jason saw a youngling climbing on something he was pretty sure they weren't supposed to climb on. He saw another child, a girl, sitting on a chair seemingly close to tears. He laughed. "Yeah, you're in control here alright."

Scott gave his brother a look. "They must really need Jedi bad if they are leaving us here with this many younglings."

"We can handle it," said Jason defensively.

"I know," said Scott, with a bit of nervousness. "I just wonder how this is all going to turn out."

"Focus on the here and now," said Jason as he walked over to the crying girl. He ducked down to her level. "Hey what's your name?"

She sobbed as she looked up. "Alexis. Alexis Moore."

The twins gave each other a glance and decided they might want to look up this girl's file.

* * *

"You called me, Major," said Sisko as he walked off the Turbolift into Ops.

"Yes Captain," said Kira. "We're detecting some unusual power readings from the wormhole."

"What kind of power readings?"

Dax injected. "Nothing that looks too significant, but we've never seen these types of fluctuations from it before."

Sisko went to the console.

Kira spoke up again, "Admiral Paris is on the line for you as well."

Sisko nodded as he turned away from the readings. "Keep me updated on the wormhole. I'll take the Admiral's message in my office."

Sisko walked into his office and activated the screen. "Hello Admiral."

"Hello Ben."

"Do you want to hear my report again?" said Sisko trying to keep irritation out of his voice.

"I think we've heard it enough."

"That's good. Then what can I do for you?"

"We've contacted this "galactic republic" and told them your story. It's not the first story they've heard, but they want you to head to their capital."

"Isn't that in the center of the galaxy?"

"Yes. We told them that two ships from their galaxy were docked at your station, and they said they'd contact the merchant ship, the… Evening Twilight. They'll take you to Coruscant."

"Is it safe?" asked Sisko. "I thought their drives weren't safe given the condition of the galaxy."

"We've traded our star carts for hyperdrive. I suspect others are doing the same. They won't give the ship the go ahead until the routes are mapped out right."

"The Federation is getting their hyperdrive?" said Sisko amazed at the speed of that development.

"Yes. The Enterprise has been recalled from Romulan space and will be the first to get it installed. A full diplomatic corp will be following you within a few days if we can get this off without a hitch. You're first though Captain. Make sure you leave a good impression."

"Understood sir."

"Captain, one more thing. If they don't believe you, don't push the issue. Starfleet is very worried that someone is going to blame us for all this. The less word spreads the better."

"I understand sir, but everyone on Bajor knows what happened."

Paris nodded. "Just don't push it any more than you have to."

* * *

On board the Enterprise, Picard had just heard the news that his ship would be heading to this galactic capital. As weird as things had been for the last day, things were surprisingly so much better. The immediate danger to the Federation had passed. The war with the Dominion was over and now there were so many new possibilities for exploration and discovery.

"Set a course for Starbase 834 maximum warp."

Data turned to him. "Captain there is a Romulan shuttle approaching. It has opened hailing frequencies."

"On screen."

Onboard the shuttle was a man Picard had not expected to see. It wasn't a Romulan, it was a Vulcan. "Ambassador Spock. What brings you here?"

"Greetings captain. I learned that the Enterprise is preparing to head to Coruscant and request permission to accompany you."

"I can't think of anyone better suited to represent the Federation."

"It is not the Federation that I wish to represent."

"Ambassador?" said Picard confused.

"The Romulans have reason to believe that the Federation will be given, shall we say, extra attention by the Republic. The Praetor has asked me to represent the Star Empire as a sign of good faith to the people from Vulcan. I am of the opinion, that this could be a positive move to the reunification between our peoples."

Picard didn't like the answer. He didn't understand Spock's push towards reunification at all. All the same, it was a chance to make a positive impression with the Romulans and an opportunity which shouldn't be missed.

"Very well Mr. Spock. Just make sure the Praetor knows this is a positive gesture from the Federation. You may dock with the Enterprise."

* * *

The guard shoved Padme forward. If Anakin had not been extremely secured, that guard would have paid a lot for that shove. As it stood, all Anakin could do was protest the rough treatment.

"Where are we heading?" asked Padme.

"Count Dooku has order you forward."

Anakin looked around. There seemed to be a major rush going on. Equipment was being packed up and people were heading away quickly. It was an evacuation he realized. The Separatists were leaving Geonosis. The first thought that came to his mind was that the Jedi were here, but Anakin knew that wasn't right. The Republic was not the one causing this evacuation.

"Why are you leaving the planet?" said Padme to one of the guards. She had clearly caught the same signs Anakin had. With some hope in her voice, she said, "Has the Republic sent a force in?"

The guard ignored any more questions and pushed the couple apart from each other. They got on separate speeders and rushed out of the main compound. After a few minutes, Anakin could clearly see a ship being prepped for lift off and the two prisoners speeders stopped. Then he saw someone else.

"Obi-Wan!"

His master turned and looked at the two with disbelief. "What are you two doing here? You're supposed to be on Naboo."

"Long story," said Anakin.

"Do either of you have a clue what is going on here?" said Obi-Wan.

"Not a bit," said Padme.

"I can fill you in a little," said a man coming out of the ship. It was Dooku.

Anakin glared at the man. "What's going Dooku?"

"This world is about to be under attack by an alien force of some kind. Given the size of the fleet, we felt it prudent to leave before they get here."

"Where are we going?" said Obi-Wan.

"You?" said Dooku. He laughed. "You are going nowhere. I think these new invaders might like getting to know you."

"What?" said a voice just beside Dooku. Anakin saw it was Nute Gunray. "You can't leave them here. They are too dangerous."

"They won't get away," said Dooku. Dooku motioned and the trio's guards fled onto the ship. Dooku then threw something by Obi-Wan. It was his lightsaber. "You might need that."

Dooku hit a button and the hatch door shut. Two seconds later, the ship was off.

Obi-Wan fought through his restraints, trying to activate his lightsaber.

Padme looked up and said, "You might want to hurry."

Anakin followed her gaze and saw cubical vessels overhead, attacking some of the last Separatists ships trying to flee.

Obi-Wan got his lightsaber activated and cut himself free. Then he helped Anakin and Padme before glancing up himself. "We have to hurry. We'll take the speeders back, find a ship in the compound, and hope we can navigate around those things."

"Look," said Anakin. A shuttle, a Naboo shuttle, was flying through the air. The trio watched as it landed right next to them.

"This is the shuttle we came in," said Padme.

The hatch opened and Anakin saw two droids. R2-D2 was attached to some of the controls, having flown the ship himself. C3PO was holding on to the side for dear life. "R2 that is the last time I fly with you. This craft was made for humans to fly, not droids." R2 beeped. Anakin smiled.

"I'm sorry Master Anakin," said C3PO. "R2 insisted that there was no time to wait for you and used the shuttle himself. I think he may have scratched it up while lifting off."

"That's the least of our concerns now," said Obi-Wan rushing in. He took a side seat. "You better pilot," he said to Anakin.

Anakin rushed in and smiled just a bit. "That's right. You don't like flying." He sat down and checked the controls. There had been some damage to the ship since he'd left. He wasn't sure if it was from R2's rocky liftoff or the Separatists, but it didn't really matter. Hyperdrive was fine, but the shield generator was fried. "Perfect."

A booming sound drew all their attention away. They covered their ears as a whole piece of earth beside them was being pulled up. Anakin looked and saw some green beams taking up the main compound and adjacent city. Anakin didn't waste any more time. He activated the flight system and got the shuttle off the ground.

"I'm detecting over a hundred ships," said Obi-wan. "Each one of them is cube-shaped, about 3 kilometers long. They have surrounded the planet."

As the shuttle went up, Anakin could feel those on board the cubes with the Force. There was something terribly wrong with whatever was over there. Who was on those ships? It felt like thousands of individuals, but it also felt like only one being.

The Naboo ship quickly reached the upper atmosphere and the Borg tried to lock on to them. Anakin felt this and had to turn the ship into a tight turn to avoid the beam. A few seconds later, another cube tried the same thing. A little more out of the atmosphere made dodging a little easier this time.

Closer, Anakin could feel what was on those ships even better now. There were thousands of individuals, but none of them had free will. Something had taken it from all of them. The thought made Anakin sick. Another cube reached for the shuttle and it took an extremely tight turn to avoid it.

"Don't focus on what's inside the cubes," said Obi-Wan.

Anakin agreed with the advice and kept his attention on the escape route.

Two cubes simultaneously tried to grab them next. The area Anakin could maneuver to and avoid both tractor beams was very narrow. He jerked the ship into that location as quickly as he could, and everyone was knocked to the floor as he did the move. Anakin steadied himself with the Force and activated a micro jump.

As the exited hyperspace, Obi-Wan signed. "Oh, I really hate flying."


	6. The Biggest City

Note: The very end of this chapter has the beginning of what will be kind of a history of the wormhole. I really like the story, but it's a bit different from the rest and if you want to skip the parts of it in this chapter and going forward (they'll get longer), you won't miss much.

* * *

Chapter 6: The Biggest City

"This whole area is beginning to make the rim feel like the heart of civilization," said Padawan Nori to her master, Jedi Knight Vance.

Vance ignored the comment. They sliced through the wall and jumped into the bridge. A dozen Vidiians phasers were quickly targeted at them, but the Jedi had no problem deflecting the blasts back at the bridge personal. Finally Vance put his lightsaber against the head of the captain.

"What do you want?" said the captain, showing little fear.

"We want you to leave the Republic alone. You are not to attack any Republic ships. You are not to take any more organs. All of the organs you have already taken will be returned."

"I have only control over my own ship. I cannot speak for anyone else."

The Jedi sighed. "If your vessel attacks even one more Republic ship, it will be listed as a terrorist ship and you as its leader. As soon as a Republic fleet can be organized for this sector your ship will be destroyed and you tried in a Republic court."

"Very well. I will instruct my crew to avoid any further attacks on Republic vessels."

Nori spoke up now. "Send a message to your counterparts that the same warning applies to them. The Republic does not tolerate piracy, especially not when the targets are actual living being."

Within an hour, the two Jedi were back on a ship. They had been in this part of the galaxy when the event had happened which left them with a lot to deal with now. "Do you think that will do anything to stop the rest of the Viideans?" asked Nori.

"If we can get some of the star systems to organize fleets to make good on our threat then yes. Until then, I suspect they'll keep attacking the underpowered ships. Make a note in the log and send it to the Senator and the Council. Also recommend that we research a cure to their disease when things settle down a little. It will make life in these parts simpler."

* * *

The biggest man-made achievements are inherently small when compared to the vastness of nature. The largest ships in the galaxy appeared colossal when most looked at them, but even the largest aren't as big as the biggest asteroids. Even the most developed planets still had more nature in them than man. If you got beyond the surface and underground facilities, what you had left was a vast interior that looked like the interior of any other similarly classed planet. Believing that the planet below him could have more in common with nature than man though was something Sisko had a hard time believing.

"That's Coruscant?" said Dax.

"Mighty big world," said the ship's captain. "Can't say I've actually ever been on it. Seems a bit crowded for my tastes."

Sisko nodded. The trip to Coruscant had seemed remarkably quick. The crew had continually apologized for delays due to incomplete star charts though suggesting they were still going slow by hyperspace standards. Dax, O'Brien, Jake, Bashir, and Jake had accompanied him and they had passed their time as guests trying to learn about the different species of this crew. Dax had spent hours trying to get the universal translator to understand Wookie. Sisko had learned a new sport from one of the members of the crew and in turn had taught him a little about baseball. Thoughts of the trip, the Prophets, the Dominion, and his reason for being here all disappeared as Sisko stared at the planet though. He had never imagined a planet could be that crowded.

The Evening Twilight sent Sisko, Dax, O'Brien, Jake, and Bashir down in a shuttle. As they passed through the city, Sisko was enamored in the view. It was story after story of buildings. He would have assumed it couldn't have covered the whole planet, but his view from space suggested otherwise. He did some quick math in his head and suspected this world's population surpassed the entire Federation's.

As the shuttle landed, 10 guards approached the trio. "Benjamin Sisko?"

"I'm Captain Sisko."

"You are to accompany us to see Chancellor Palpatine." That was a surprise to Sisko. He had expected to meet with some lower ranking officials first. He'd assumed he'd only see the chancellor himself if something came of the initial interview. "The rest of you are to follow Levent and meet with some of the other Milky Way species who have arrived here."

Sisko followed the men. He went on an elevator that seemed to go up forever before finally getting off and going through a series of halls. At last the guards stood to the side and Sisko entered some long doors.

Chancellor Palpatine turned in his chair. He set down some kind of data sheet and walked to Sisko. "Good. Captain, it is a pleasure to meet you."

"The honor is all mine," said Sisko shaking his hand. "I must say I'm surprised I was taken straight here."

"I understand Captain," said Palpatine has he led Sisko towards his desk, "but we are desperate to understand what has happened. The Jedi felt your story was the most credible of the ones we have received."

"The Jedi?"

"You'll meet them later. Nevermind them for now though. Please, have a seat."

Sisko sat. "What do you want to know?"

"Let's start with what exactly happened."

Sisko told Palpatine everything he knew about the Prophets and then went into the Dominion War and his conversation with the Prophets.

"It seems," said Palpatine, "that these Prophets have decided you play some key role. I don't know what is to come, but I hope the Republic can stay on friendly terms with your Federation."

"The feeling in mutual. Is there anything we can provide you with?"

"Probably not much more than you already have. You aren't by chance familiar with the Borg?"

Sisko let go of a breath as he thought of Jennifer. "Yes. They've from the Delta Quadrant and have invaded the Federation twice. We've been extremely lucky to survive. When the Enterprise arrives, I'm sure they'll be more than willing to share any information you request. Captain Picard was assimilated himself for a time. How bad have the attacks been?"

"They've attacked more than 3 dozen systems and the regions defenses have so far been inadequate. We are preparing a fleet as we speak, but there are so many problems across the galaxy that adequately dealing with them is likely going to leave holes in a number of other places."

Sisko cringed a little thinking about Republic technology in the hands of the Borg. "Based on my experience, I suggest you consider the Borg your number one threat. They can't be reasoned with, their resources are vast, and they will only continue to get stronger."

Palpatine gave a nod that said yes, I agree completely. A piece of Sisko felt that it might be just a politician's nod.

Palpatine stood, suggesting the meeting was coming to an end. "Thank you Captain. Your answers have been a great service to the Republic. My aides will escort you to the Jedi Temple."

* * *

"So let me get this straight," said Padme. "A new galaxy somehow popped itself right on top of ours. The species living in it are supposed to be more primitive than us though?"

"Those Borg didn't seem very primitive," said Anakin.

Padme nodded. "I agree. Are they sure this is not an attack?"

Obi-Wan said, "Most of the species haven't attacked a ship. The Jedi have confirmed reports of at least 2,000 different governments and that's likely only a fraction of the total. It's doubtful that any species which didn't control their own galaxy would have either the means or the will to merge with another one."

Padme tried to think it through and finally said, "You're probably right." She sighed before glancing at the controls. "Now we have to figure out what's going on and our next step."

Anakin knew that voice. She had already made a decision and there was going to be no talking her out of it. "What are you suggesting?"

"I'm saying it's time to head back to Coruscant," said Padme.

"You're not safe there," said Anakin.

"I agree," said Obi-Wan. "Our job is to protect you and the bounty hunter is still on the loose. The safest place for you is back on Naboo."

"The Separatists have bigger issues now," said Padme. "I'm not waiting here. I was elected to represent the people in the Senate and they need me there now more than ever. The Jedi are also going to need both of you for more than protection duty."

She angled her way past both Jedi and started entering the information to head back to Coruscant.

* * *

As Sisko entered the room, he realized he was at the top of one of the taller buildings. This was clearly some important meeting room. In a circle sat many different people from a variety of species. With one exception, a little green man, none of them were actually physically here though. Sisko walked to center conscious of all the eyes on him.

"Welcome Captain Sisko," said a hologram. "I am Jedi Master Mace Windu."

"A pleasure…Mr. Windu."

"Ours, the pleasure is," said Yoda.

"We've read your reports." said Windu. "We need to know exactly what the Prophets said to you."

Sisko went through his story again, but the Jedi seemed interested in different parts than Starfleet had been or even than Palpatine had been interested in. The why almost seemed less important to them than the nature of the Prophets.

Yoda spoke, "To these Prophets, different the Force is. Wonder do I if two different versions together can survive."

"What do you mean?" said Sisko.

"Certain, I am not, but changed the Force is. Merging they spoke of, interesting it is."

Sisko had the feeling Yoda saw more here than he did. "Do you think it refers to more than the uniting of our two galaxies?"

Yoda paused. The rest of the council was looking at him with as much interest as Sisko was. "More, there likely is."

* * *

"Let me get this straight. You let a bug live inside of you?"

The alien looked at Dax in total disgust, and Dax was getting a little angry. "It's not a bug. When one agrees to become a host, they agree to a union of their person with the symbiont. We are part of each other."

The alien, about half of Jadzia's height, looked as if she had never even heard of a punishment as horrible as what Dax had willingly agreed to. "That's the most disgusting thing I've ever heard. Our government spent half of its budget a couple of decades ago to get rid of anything on our home planet that would ever attempt to survive or feast upon our bodies. When we settle a new planet, eliminating any similarly threatening species is given higher priority than housing. You let that thing survive inside you!"

"You spent half your budget on eliminating mosquitoes!"

Julian Bashir walked up and said, "If you'd like I could give you the full details on the medical procedure of putting the symbiont in?" The alien looked like she was about to throw up and dashed away.

Jadzia smiled, "Thanks."

"No problem. I just left a woman who is trying to get her homeworld to abolish all technology."

Jadzia laughed. "I suppose she walked here."

"It sounded like she represents a very minor political party. The other members of her group said she fainted when she saw the planet." Bashir glanced back over at her. "Look, they are introducing her to an android."

* * *

The Jedi High Council had continued its meeting for some time after Sisko had left. "I think we should direct more of our forces toward the other trouble spots," said Kit Fisto. "I know the Borg are the bigger threat, but there's not a whole lot individual Jedi are going to be able to do until the fleet is fully mobilized."

Windu spoke up. "I have set-up defensive alliances with the Corta and three other minor core civilizations. I believe the Core is now safe enough to direct more Republic ships against the Borg. Chancellor Palpatine is preparing to send a large part of the Core fleet to the Delta Quadrant as we speak."

"Will it be enough?" asked Master Tiin. "The reports so far suggest a pretty vast Borg presence."

"It's unlikely to be all that is needed," said Windu. "It will take a full galactic mobilization to properly deal with them, but it should at least slow them down until we can organize better."

"Prophets, we must also learn more about," said Yoda.

"I agree," said Fisto. "We should send a Jedi to Bajor to investigate."

"Master Halcyon is already in the region," said Master Kolar.

"The skill of a researcher we need," said Yoda.

"Did you have someone in mind," asked Windu.

"Master Nu, excellent for mission would she be."

"I agree," said Windu. "I think we should go ahead and send Master Halcyon in first though."

"Agreed."

* * *

"My Lord," said Count Dooku kneeling before the hologram of Sidious.

"Rise." After Dooku was up, Palpatine continued, "We will have to move slower, but our opportunity for power is far greater than ever."

"Yes my lord. What should I tell the council?"

"Tell them to hold the fleet together and stay low. Now is not their time. It will not be long though."

"Have you discovered the cause of this event?"

"Yes," said Palpatine with a smile. "A set of being from outside the Force. Their connection to this universe is already fading. You are to go to Bajor, learn about them, and then destroy what is left of their connection."

"Yes my lord."

* * *

Bajoran System, Unclaimed Space 13,456 BC

"We will be in visual range in 2 minutes Admiral."

Admiral Rachelas, smiled. "Put me on speaker to the whole ship."

"Yes sir."

"This is Admiral Rachelas, ladies and gentlemen, 60 years ago this ship left on a journey. This trip was the most expensive in Constanian history and there was a lot of debate about whether we could make this journey in one piece. Now we stand almost there. In 2 minutes, we will be in visual range of the exact location to set-up Device B."

He let those words sink in for a minute. "It is still going to take some time to make all the preparations. We will need to find other species to trade some parts with. We need to delicately put together parts that have been in storage for 60 years. Right now though, I want all of you to forget all of that."

The sensors officer made a gesture.

The admiral nodded and a picture appeared on the viewscreen. "Right now, on every screen on this ship, you can see a location in space. This is where we will set-up Device B. This is where, if we are successful and they are willing, we will make contacts with the gods."


	7. Premonitions

Chapter 7: Premonitions

"A great many misunderstandings have occurred over the past couple of days. The Republic is committed to promoting peace in the galaxy and we are now preparing to send representatives to every Milky Way government to clear up any misunderstandings. While our diplomatic corps will be strained for a time, it is our goal to have a representative with every government within the next 10 days. It is not necessary for every Milky Way worlds to send a representative to Coruscant. If you wish to send a representative anyway, we will not stop you, but please be aware that you may be required to remain outside the system for several days."

"In this time of confusion, I want to thank most in both galaxies for showing respect and for helping one another. The Republic will lead the effort to restore order to our new galaxy, but," Palpatine sighed from behind his desk, "I need to send a stern warning. There are areas where piracy has been rampant, where Republic ships have been attacked. This will not be tolerated. Any ship or any government found to be guilty of these acts will be subject to severe Republic reprisals. Once again, thank you everyone for your patience during these difficult times."

A couple of days had passed since the Event and a little bit of order was finally returning. While the remaining challenges were many and large, at least they were starting to become clear. The Senate had reconvened, the Jedi had been sent for diplomatic and relief efforts all around the galaxy, the initial galactic star charts were 85% complete, and fleets had been authorized to be formed around the galaxy to deal with threats. The most pressing danger remained though.

"Are we ready for the second transmission?" asked Palpatine.

"Yes," said the technician. "This message will be sent only to the part of the Delta Quadrant we have confirmed as occupied by the Borg."

"Proceed then."

The technician hit a button and made a gesture.

Palpatine stood for this message, a sign of strength. "This message is directed to the Borg Collective. Over the past several days, your ships have attacked a large number of Republic worlds and ships. This must end immediately. We have sent ships to stop your fleets from continuing their assaults."

Paplatine's tone softened a little. "While we are furious over your attacks in the Delta Quadrant, we would still like to make a special request to help end this war. We invite you to send representatives to Coruscant. Should your ships arrive here, even if hostilities continue elsewhere, you will be welcomed with open arms. Combining resources, we can bring perfection to the galaxy and the bloodshed can end. Please send representative ships to Coruscant immediately."

* * *

Jedi Master Nejaa Halcyon strolled through the Promenade admiring the Cardassian architecture. Aspects of the station reminded him of the rim as it felt almost like a far flung outpost. The activity here suggested that wasn't the case though, too many travellers passing through in every which direction, also, too many officers. He saw a bar and decided it might be enlightening to head in.

Halcyon was a Corellian Jedi, in many ways a breed of their own, not following all the traditional Jedi rules and customs. He had a wife and a young child. He had been out on a relatively minor diplomatic mission (talking to leaders of a world sympathetic to the Separatists) when the Event, or the Merging as the locals were calling it, happened.

The bar was full and the population was pretty diverse. Most of occupants were Milky Way species, Bajorans, Milky Way humans, and others he hadn't seen before, but he could spot several species from his own galaxy as well. In particular he noted a Wookie heading up to a table.

"Hey!" said the barkeep running toward the Wookie. "I said no more dabo! If you want to spend your credits I can get you time in a holosuite."

The Wookie pushed the little man out of the way and put his credits on the table just before a Bajoran started the wheel. Halcyon took a few steps closer.

The wheel slowed and finally stopped. The Wookie, clearly not a good sport, gave out a loud cry as he realized he lost.

"Now listen," said the barkeep. "Any damage you cause this time you are paying for."

The Wookie knocked over the table and girl behind jumped out of the way.

Halcyon walked next to the Wookie and touched his arm, a brave feat. "You are done here," said Halcyon firmly. "You don't want to cause any more damage."

The Wookie looked at him, gave a confused grunt, and headed toward the door. The barkeep looked at Halcyon with a stunned expression. "It's that easy?"

Halcyon laughed. "I wouldn't recommend trying it. I've never actually seen one do it, but Wookies have a reputation for pulling off arms after a loss."

"Yea," said the barkeep. He shook his head and looked at Halcyon. "I'm Quark. This is my bar. Let me offer you a drink and you can tell me about why the Republic sent you here."

"How did you know…"

"Rule of Acquisition number 194: It's good to know your customers before they walk in your door."

* * *

Anakin and Obi-Wan stood before a hologram of Master Windu. "Excellent work escaping. The bounty hunter is still on the loose?"

"I'm afraid so," said Obi-Wan, wishing he had succeeded in taking care of the man back on Kamino. "He was on Geonosis before the Separatists fled."

"Then there is probably no immediate danger to Senator Amidala," said Windu.

"All the same," said Anakin, "Once he finds out she's still alive, he's going to come back."

"Maybe," said Windu. "For now, take her back to Naboo and arrange security. We can't spare both of you, but…"

Padme pushed her way between the two Jedi and interrupted. "We are almost back to Coruscant. I am not leaving again. The Separatists might not even be willing to pay given their recent losses and the change in the galaxy. I'm needed here and I'm not going to waste months hiding from an attack that may never come."

Master Windu looked at the two Jedi and at the Senator and realized there was no point debating this. "Very well. Obi-Wan as soon as you land, report to the Jedi Temple. We're going to have you meet some of the Milky Way representatives who have just arrived. Anakin, you are to arrange security for Senator Amidala and then report back to the Jedi Temple for further instructions."

"But Master Windu, will that be enough if the bounty hunter comes back? If he was good enough to get away from Obi-Wan then more protection than local security is called for."

"Make sure it's enough."

"Understood," said Anakin reluctantly.

Windu disappeared and Padme put her arm on his shoulder. "I'll be OK."

Anakin nodded. "I'll make sure of that."

Obi-Wan kept his thoughts to himself, but thought it might be a good thing that the two were being separated. Anakin's feelings were just too strong here. "We're exiting hyperspace in 3 seconds."

The hyperspace lines disappeared and all three of them were amazed at the sight before them. Thousands of ships were stationed just outside the system. Scanning through them, Anakin could see hundreds of damaged Republic ships, likely having fled here from elsewhere in the galaxy. There were plenty of commercial ships jumping back and forth between ships, and there were a lot of ships he didn't recognize.

"How many ships are there in the system?" asked Padme.

Anakin reached for the controls and did a quick scan. "More than 50,000."

* * *

The 3rd fleet was a combination of Core ships which recently had arrived in the Delta Quadrant and local ships which had been quickly organized. The fleet, more than 400 capital ships strong approached a world that had issued a distress call 4 days ago.

The commanding general asked, "How many ships in the system?"

"10, all cubes."

Jedi Master Tiin asked, "What of the planet?"

The sensor officer shook his head. "About 1 billion people on the planet, sir. They are showing up as all Borg. If there are any who have avoided assimilation, they are also avoiding sensor detection."

The admiral shook his head. How could anyone do this? "Destroy the ships. We'll worry about what to do with the planet later."

"Incoming transmission."

"We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your vessels. Your biological and cultural distinctiveness will be added to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile."

Master Tiin standing beside the admiral, shook his head. "Admiral, I don't think they are going to listen to any reason."

The admiral nodded. "Alright. Let's take them out."

The battle was an easy Republic victory. While the cubes were strong, they were just too outgunned against so many Republic capital ships. Afterward, as the crew glanced down at the planet, a planet with inhabitants now working on planetary defense systems, an important question greeted everyone. What were they supposed to do now?

* * *

From The Emergence of a New Galaxy: A Brief History of the Milky Bi-Galaxy Following the Merging

By Nerns Lance

Copyright: Kendra Province, Bajoran Provisional Government. 2394 AD.

Translated into English 2422 AD. Used with Permission.

Chapter 3: A Lasting Impression

The events in the first several days after the Merging would leave marks that would last until the present day. While it bears repeating that in the vast majority of cases Republic and Milky Way worlds got along all right initially, many negative interactions would not quickly be forgotten by either side.

Many Republic worlds (and non-Republic worlds from their galaxy for that matter) found themselves intertwined in local Milky Way politics. The rumors of the Borg spread quickly and brought tremendous fear. Besides them though, pirates were now active in areas previously secure and new governments were making demands, particularly related to travel, that Republic worlds found ridiculous. Meanwhile, merchants from both sides took advantage of others' lack of knowledge about resources/technology to make extremely one-sided deals. The term Milky-Wayer developed in these early days. While rarely used by the government in any way other than to suggest someone was from the Milky Way, it quickly developed a negative connotation across many worlds and was used to describe someone who was thought backwards, uncivilized, or overly aggressive.

For the Milky Way worlds, the existence of the Galactic Republic combined with the introduction of hyperspace had thrown off the often delicate balance of power in almost the entire galaxy. Some worlds, particularly weak or threatened ones, saw the Republic as a godsend. The Gorth, a Beta Quadrant species on the verge of being completely conquered prior to the Merging, were the first Milky Way species to apply for membership to the Republic less than 3 days after the Merging occurred. Many others quickly decided to push for alliances, trade pacts, etc.

For others, the Republic was an entity that was in no way welcomed. Many of the galaxies most powerful empires had pushed for clear borders and were used to strict control of the travel through their space. Free Republic travel through their space was in many cases extremely uncomfortable and in cases like the Poliks (an empire which was on the border between the Gamma and Delta Quadrants) enough of a distraction for terrorist to sneak onto vital worlds.

* * *

"It was quite an experience," said Halcyon. "The wormhole felt both to be a place key to the Force and absent from it all together. I don't know how else to explain it."

"Anything else?" asked Master Yoda.

Halcyon paused trying to find the right words. "I felt conflict in it, like it's being altered by something, perhaps the Force itself."

Yoda nodded, but said nothing.

"Do you understand what's going on?" asked Halcyon.

"Understand I do not. Though, different the Force appears to have acted in the Milky Way."

Halcyon tried, without a lot of success, to grasp what Yoda was saying. "So the Merging has made it so that the Prophets can't exist in the same way anymore?"

Yoda shook his head, "Know, I do not." Yoda changed the subject before Halcyon could comment further. "Talked to Kai Wynn yet have you?"

"Not yet. Major Kira has arranged for me a meeting and I'll depart for the planet as soon as we are done here."

"Good. Master Nu should there be shortly."

"Thank you Master Yoda."

The hologram disappeared and Halcyon walked out onto the Promenade. He could feel a commotion by the Bajoran Temple and looked over to see several Bajorans speaking loudly.

"He has to return."

"Did the Prophets talk to you when you prayed too?"

"He never should have left."

Halcyon walked to the crowd trying to figure out what they were talking about. Just as he got there Major Kira came out.

Several Bajorans started throwing questions at her. "Not now!" she shouted. "I will contact the Emissary."

Kira spotted Halcyon and walked over.

"What is the trouble?" said Halcyon.

"The Prophets are sending messages to anyone who sits by the Orbs. I've never heard of anything like it. They want the Emissary to come back."

"He's on Coruscant now?"

"Yes," said Kira quickly. "Master Halcyon, our communication with Coruscant is still very limited. Is it possible that you could get ahold of Captain Sisko?"

"Of course. I'll arrange transport as well."

* * *

Padme gave a small smile. "Thank you Anakin. I promise I'll stay safe."

"You better," said Anakin. "If you have any problems with any of the security call me immediately."

"Anakin you worry too much."

Anakin shook his head and put his arms around Padme. He held her close. "Not too much for you. I could never worry too much for you. If anything happens to you, I don't know what I'd do."

Padme smiled and hugged him hard. "You take care of yourself. Where did they say you're heading?"

"Bajor. It's a Milky Way world. I'm not even sure where other than somewhere in the midregions." He paused then added, "It's not right at all."

"What isn't?"

"Here you are with a bounty hunter after you, a bounty hunter good enough to escape from Obi-Warn, and they have me transporting some old man back to a peaceful world in the middle of nowhere."

"There has to be more to it than that."

"He's apparently pretty important, but it doesn't matter. I should be here with you."

Padme kissed him and the kiss lasted for longer than she intended. "Do your duty and come back to me." She added, "I promise I'll try to stay out of trouble if you will."

Anakin gave a smirk. "Good luck with that."

"What are you implying?"

"Nothing my lady. Just that every time we meet you seem to be in some kind of trouble."

"I could say the same."

Anakin gave a short pained laugh. "I suppose you could."

"Go," she said. "They aren't going to wait on you forever."

Anakin nodded and walked to the door. Just before he left, he turned around and saw her looking at him. "Will you marry me?"

Padme paused, looked down and finally sighed. "Yes. When you get back."

Anakin smiled and walked out. He turned around one last time and saw her with a huge grin her face and for the rest of his life, he always wanted to remember her that way.

* * *

"What was that about?" asked Bashir.

"I'm going back to Bajor," said Sisko.

"What?" said Jake. "Why?"

"Something is going on with the Prophets. Kira says that they are telling everyone who gets within 2 feet of an orb to get me back."

"How are we going to get back?" asked Dax.

Sisko started loading up his suitcase. "I'm going with a Jedi. There is no reason for the rest of you to come."

"Like hell," said O'Brien. "We're not going to leave you alone."

"You are the only representatives of Starfleet on the planet," said Sisko. "Your orders are to stay. Besides," he added, "I don't think the Prophets want a crowd. I'll be fine."

"I'm going with you," said Jake.

Sisko turned to his son and the words of the Prophets came back to him, Not a Starfleet Captain, Not a Father. He didn't know what those words meant and he didn't think he could accept them. At the same time though, he felt there was danger and that whatever was coming, he had to do alone. It was probably a ridiculous feeling, but he felt it all the same. "No. You came here to report on what's going on and that hasn't changed."

"Dad, if something is going on back home…"

"Listen to me Jake," said Sisko putting his hand over his son's shoulder. "You stayed on Deep Space 9 when the Dominion came because it was your job to report the story. This is where the story is now and where your job is. I'm not sure what the Prophets want with me, but I promise that I'll be OK and come back."

Jake sighed. "Alright, but you better keep your promise."

Sisko smiled and hugged him. "I love you son."

Sisko let go and turned to the others. "Don't have too much excitement here without me."

* * *

Device B Station, Destiny (Bajor) System, Constanian Space, 13,453 BC

It is strange staring into the abyss of space and thinking that a 60 year journey could soon become a 60 second one. Right in front of him, there might soon be a wormhole which would take him all the way back to his home. Admiral Rachelas was consumed by how odd that was as he stared out the window of the conference room.

The crew of the Salvation had arrived in the system three years ago and life hadn't been easy. They had established a colony on the planet they called Destiny and had started working on Device B. Their efforts had not gone unnoticed. A primitive, but rather large civilization known as the Malkans had objected to this new colony so close to their space. Rachelas had spoken to their leaders a lot, explained the colony was small, but the system was necessary for their experiments. The leaders of the Malkans hadn't been sympathetic. Rachelas had delayed them as long as possible, but now he was going to have to offer something more.

The lights flickered twice indicating a visitor. Rachelas called them in.

A younger man, not even alive when the Salvation had begun its journey, walked in. "Captain Strun, reporting as ordered sir. I have the diplomats from the Malkans with me."

Rachelas nodded. "Bring them in."

The aliens walked into the room and immediately took seats. Rachelas and Captain Strun sat as well.

One of the aliens began. "Admiral our patience is nearing its end. Remove your colony from Destiny or we will be forced to destroy it. A fleet is, as we speak, being prepared to remove your colony by force."

Captain Strun, somewhat out of place, spoke up. "We are no threat to you. We colonized one planet you had no claim to and we have made no moves to expand."

"This space is in the rightful expansion area of the Malkan Alliance. Our leaders can't give up that claim easily."

"You can't…" started Strun, but Rachelas held up a hand. "That's enough captain." He looked to the aliens and managed to hold his tongue. "I understand you have territorial ideas that must be considered. This is why I would like to buy the claim to Destiny from your people."

"You don't have enough resources to pay for something like that."

"I'm offering technology. I'll give you all our advanced engines and shields designs in exchange for the system."

The diplomats for once finally seemed intrigued. "Perhaps an arrangement could be made. One small colony might not conflict with the Alliance."

The negotiations continued for three hours and finally Rachelas had thrown in several other advances.

Captain Strung stayed in the room after the negotiations. Rachelas had a lot of respect for the young man. He probably hadn't been the best choice for any part of a diplomatic mission though as he was very apt to speak his mind. "Did you have something to say Captain?"

"Sir, we just let them bully us into giving them a lot."

Rachelas nodded and gave a short laugh. "Yes we did. We didn't have a choice though."

"Do you think they'll even keep their word? I think in 5 years they'll be making more demands."

Rachelas nodded. He agreed with that insight. "Probably, but if we make contact with Device A, then hopefully that won't be a problem anymore."

Strung nodded more enthusiastically. "Before we see the rest of our race, we should see the gods."

Rachelas made a decision then. "Yes. I hope so. Captain, do you believe this work? Do you think we'll see the gods?"

"Yes…Well I hope so. The theory is sound."

"Yes it is, but it's still only one possible outcome. We get so wrapped up in the possibility here that we forget the gods usually only reveal themselves a piece at a time."

Strung nodded now. "I suppose you are right."

"Captain, I want you flying the shuttle into the wormhole to make first contact."

Strung was speechless.


	8. Strange New Worlds

Note: The Bajoran backstory gets a little longer this chapter and next. If you don't find it interesting, you'll be OK if you skip it. I thought about taking it out, but I like it and it adds a little so I left it.

* * *

Chapter 8: Strange New Worlds

Yesterday's great achievements are tomorrow's underappreciated devices. When Zefram Cochrane invented warp drive, its speed revolutionized everything for humanity. Just how different life was with it though was something few in the 24th century truly comprehended. Picard reflected on that thought as the lines of hyperspace, so different from the familiar colors of warp, continued on the viewscreen. Where would this device, this hyperdrive, lead them? Would it be as revolutionary as warp? At the very least, the galaxy was going to get a lot smaller.

Picard stood up from his command chair and walked back to the science station where Mr. Spock sat analyzing something. "Ambassador, I must say it a privilege to see you working at this station on an Enterprise again."

"Indeed," said Spock not looking up. He hit a few more buttons then finally turned to Picard. "My apologies, captain. Hyperdrive is a fascinating technology."

"No apology needed. I'm quite intrigued myself."

"It is an experience I've…" Spock searched for the right words, "missed, being on the Enterprise. Even though this is a different ship, I believe many of the original crew would have found being on its successor comforting."

Picard tried to imagine the original crew, exploring when so little was known of areas even not all that far from Earth. Times did indeed change quickly.

Data spoke up, "Captain, we will be exiting hyperspace in 10 seconds."

Picard nodded. "Understood."

Ambassador Hollis walked up to Picard. He was the official ambassador on behalf of the Federation. He and Spock had hardly said two words to each other the entire trip. "So this it," said Hollis.

The lines of hyperspace disappeared and Picard stared at the view before him. Thousands, tens of thousands of ships, were all around.

"We are receiving a hail sir," said Data.

"Put it through."

"Enterprise. You are to send a shuttle to these coordinates. Diplomats on the planet will receive your ambassador shortly."

Picard looked to Spock. "We also have a representative on board from a neighboring government."

There was a sigh on the other end. "Very well. Send them down too."

Spock turned to Picard. "Thank you captain."

"Just don't give the Romulans too big a tactical advantage please."

"I don't expect that will be possible. I will also send a report to Starfleet on recommendations for the Federation as well."

Picard nodded. "Thank you ambassador."

* * *

Jedi Master Jocasta Nu had not left Coruscant in quite some time. She was in charge of the Jedi Archives and with the galaxy mapped out so completely, had felt little need to explore anymore herself.

The Event, the Merging, had thrown everything off though and now she knew the Archives were in need of much updating. With that in mind, she hadn't been terribly disappointed when the Council had asked her to start exploring.

Nu put down the book she had been studying and picked up another. She naturally didn't know Bajoran, but on her side was the Force, years of studying, and an automatic translator which had been set-up with the help of Federation computers.

Jedi Master Halcyon walked back into the room, passing three Bajoran security personnel, and went up to Nu. "Didn't they give you a pad with all of this automatically translated into Basic."

"Yes," said Nu without looking up.

"Then why go through these books? Granting access to this library to outsiders has made the kai nervous and there are other parts of the planet we need to investigate. "

"Because," said Nu, "Translations even when done properly, and no computer translates properly, miss things. Also there is something to be learned by the handwriting, the way things are written, and the echo those who wrote left on the Force."

"If you say so."

Nu shook her head. "You never were the best of students."

"No, not my strength. I can tell there is a powerful Force connection to this world though."

Nu nodded. "Did Kai Wynn have anything else to add?"

Halcyon shook his head. "No. She is a politician at least as much as she is a religious leader, maybe even more so."

"Indeed. That's not always a bad thing though." Nu looked up from her book and stared across the room. They had been given free reign of the most important library on Bajor, but there was one book that was off limits. Two Bajorans guarded a single book at the end. "I would very much like to read that one," said Nu to Halcyon.

Halcyon smiled. "A full room of new books and you want to read the only one that is off limits."

"They say anyone besides the kai is prevented from reading it. I want to know why."

She got up and started walking over. Halcyon quickly decided he had better stop this and walked in front of her. "We were sent to learn about the Prophets, not to make enemies with the Bajorans."

Nu frowned, but sat back down.

* * *

"Admiral, Master Tiin, Nebolits reports it's under attack."

Jedi Master Tiin looked at the chart. "Sixty-five cubes." He shook his head. "That's too big a fleet too far into Borg space."

"It's not Borg space, its Republic space," corrected Admiral Greece.

Tiin said, "Of course admiral, but we've lost too many ships already and the bulk of the Borg forces remains in the inner regions. If we send our force in that far we will likely see Borg reinforcements. It is what led to the 5th fleet disaster."

Greece gave an exasperated sigh. He did not leave Coruscant and come all the way out here to sit back and watch. Greece had never been a passionate man. The Borg had evoked emotions he had never known he could experience though. He hadn't even heard of the Borg until a week ago, but it had been enough time for him to develop a burning hatred. "The chancellor may have made you Jedi generals, but until told otherwise, I still control this fleet and I will not sit by while 5 billion people are assimilated."

Tiin didn't protest, knowing it would do no good.

Greece walked toward the center of the bridge. "Call in the reserves and the 2nd fleet and have them join up with us. That should give us more than enough firepower to handle a fleet that size."

The main fleet arrived in the system just as the Borg were going into orbit over the planet. As the Republic ships approached, the Borg reversed direction.

"Borg message coming in."

"Ignore it," said Greece. "How long until the 2nd fleet arrives?"

"10 minutes."

The fighters were the first to engage. Thousands of them started hitting cubes with small blasts. While the effects were minimal vs. the cubes on their own, concentrated they caused some damage and they opened the door for a few bombers to make it through and release some stronger weapons.

The capital ships came in next. As planned, the fighters and bombers veered to another vector and the capital ships started unleashing their full loads against the Borg.

Greece smiled as another cube exploded. A few fragments remained and kept firing, but they were quickly dealt with. "Status of the reinforcements?"

"Just entering the system now."

"And the Borg?" asked Tiin.

"Half a dozen additional cubes have arrived. It looks like ships from all over the sector are making their way here though."

As the 2nd fleet arrived, the Republic position had a definite advantage and the cubes started to be worn down. Tiin did not have a good feeling though and walked up to a panel to analyze the sensors. After a moment he sighed. "Admiral if I may have a word."

Greece very reluctantly walked over to the Jedi. "What is it?"

"Admiral, look at these readings. There are Borg ships coming in through hyperdrives in almost every direction. There will be at least an additional 200 Borg ships in this system before the battle is over. I know we are doing well now, but we have few nearby reinforcements left and we are not ready to face that many Borg ships."

Greece studied the chart. He wanted to tell the Jedi he was wrong, that his fleet was winning. He wasn't a stupid leader though and for all he wanted to be here, he could tell the likelihood of success was now small.

Greece walked back to the center of the bridge unable to speak. Finally he said, "Bring the fighters and bombers back in. Tell Nebolits to evacuate immediately."

As the ships waited, trying to get all of the bombers and fighters back on board, additional cubes approached and started pounding the defenders of the Republic. As the combined Republic fleet retreated, it had lost more than a 1/3 of its strength.

* * *

Anakin hadn't spoken a lot on the trip so far. Sisko hadn't exactly been in a talking mood either. Anakin's curiosity was starting to get the better of him though. He'd barely gotten any information before leaving Coruscant. "So what exactly does being 'emissary' mean?"

Sisko shook his head seeming to clear his mind. "Wish that I knew. I personally wouldn't have minded getting a list of what's involved when the title got thrown at me."

"You didn't choose it?"

Sisko shook his head. "I discovered a wormhole. That's all. I wasn't even alone, but I was the commander and the one the Prophets choose to speak to. Then I was all of a sudden an important figure in the Bajoran religion and now I have to deal with the Prophet's choices on my life."

Anakin could hear bitterness in the voice. It wasn't a rejection of his role, but there was a definite anger from Sisko. That was a feeling Anakin could sympathize with. "The chosen one."

"What?" asked Sisko, confused.

"That's what they called me. The one who, according to prophesy, is supposed to bring balance to the Force."

"How exactly did you get tagged with that?"

"The way I was born."

"The way you were born?" asked Sisko.

Anakin only nodded.

Reflectively Sisko said, "You've had it your whole life then. I suppose that's worse than getting mid-way through your career."

"Not quite my whole life," said Anakin thinking of life on Tatooine. "But most."

"What does that even mean, bring balance to the Force?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. It helped me become a Jedi even though I was too old and for that I'm grateful, but I haven't a clue what else I'm supposed to do."

"How old are you?" asked Sisko.

"19."

"About the same age as my son, and you were too old. How long have you been a Jedi?"

"I've been training since Qui-Gon found me when I was 9. Usually training starts shortly after birth."

Sisko didn't seem to quite approve of the Jedi methods, but he didn't say anything. After a moment, Anakin said, "If you don't mind my asking, why I am taking you to Bajor? There are not nearly as many Jedi as the Republic needs right now, but the Council felt this was important enough to send me. Why?"

Sisko sighed. "I wish I could give you better answers than I've got." He laughed. "I wish I had better answers for myself." Sisko took a moment and gathered his thoughts. "Anakin, I don't really know. I know the Prophets caused the Merging. I know now they are acting strangely and want me to come back. I don't know anything else."

Anakin didn't say anything. This was definitely an interesting man.

Sisko picked up a pad seeming to read something. He didn't have it in his hand for 10 seconds though before he threw it across the ship, and it hit a wall hard. "I don't know if I'm ever going to see my son again."

Anakin completely turned his chair to face Sisko. "What?"

"They told me," said Sisko almost shouting. He lowered his voice back to normal. "They told me that I needed to become the Emissary, not a father and not a Starfleet captain. In other words, I have to give up everything."

Anakin thought of his own frustrations. A Jedi couldn't love, couldn't be married, and couldn't get close to another. "You don't have to do what they say."

"But that's the problem. I might have to. I never dreamed the Prophets could do anything like this, but they did. They have merged two galaxies, maybe two whole universes and it was all to save me!"

Sisko put his head back against his chair. "If I don't do what they ask, I don't know what the consequences will be. The only way to keep Jake safe and to preserve the Federation might be to accept what the Prophets want from me."

They sat for several more minutes in silence. Eventually Sisko sat up. "What about you? Is this prophecy keeping you away from anything?"

Anakin didn't answer right away. He thought of Padme and the secret they held together. The delay was a mistake.

"I know that pause. Who is she?"

Anakin spoke slowly. "Someone I am forbidden to be with. Not because of prophecy, but because I'm a Jedi."

Sisko smiled. "Well, that shouldn't stop you."

Anakin couldn't himself and smiled back. "No, it shouldn't."

* * *

Virtually every Milky Wayer who had seen Coruscant had been enamored by it. They had been amazed at its size and/or by the power of the civilization the world represented. Ambassador Spock was a rare exception who was able to push aside those emotions and look at the situation, at the world, and at the Republic with the detached logic only Vulcans seemed able to maintain.

He'd spent a few hours meeting with low level diplomatic corp representatives. He knew that they had little power to do anything to further Romulan relations with the Republic, but he had been fortunate to even receive the attention he was getting. Most species that were sending representatives directly to Coruscant were still in orbit waiting for their turn and hadn't been able to bypass to even this level.

The door chimed. "Enter."

Juidiza Dax came in. "Ambassador, I just wanted to come in and say hi."

"Have we met before?" asked Spock.

"Briefly," said Dax. "In past life I suppose you could say. You met Curzan Dax."

"Ah yes," said Spock. "That was before Trill entered the Federation if I remember correctly. Rather aggressive man."

Dax laughed. "That was Curzan." Changing tones she asked, "How have the negotiations been going?"

"I believe that I have left an impression with the officers I have spoken to and hope that is conveyed in their reports."

"I don't doubt it will be," said Dax. "What do you make of this Republic?"

"It is large and ancient, but it is much more fragile than it appears."

"How so?" said Dax who hadn't heard anyone describe the Republic in that way.

"If not for the Jedi, it appears certain the Republic would have crumbled or turned away from democracy long ago. In many ways, it has started a shift in recent years even with the Jedi's leadership. The Senate changes little even when elections produce very different results. Before the Merging, the Republic was on the verge of civil war. While that may have been prevented, I see a continuing drift as likely. For that reason, I will recommend to the Federation that it stay close, but avoid an outright alliance."

"You are a quick study," said Dax. "Will you make the same recommendation to the Romulans?"

"The Romulan values are different than the Federation. They will be hesitant to trust the Republic, but will desire an alliance to maintain security of their borders. Given the effect hyperdrive will have on the galaxy and the presence of so many Republic worlds in Romulan space, I see no other alternative they will consider pursuing."

Dax nodded. "Be that as it may, I'd be shocked if the Federation was not pursing as close of relationships as they can with the Republic.

"Indeed," said Spock, "but I must make recommendations based off of my opinion even if it unlikely to be followed."

* * *

Destiny (Bajoran) System, Constanian space, 13,452 BC

In a solo shuttlecraft, Captain Strun breathed heavily as he checked his instruments again. If this worked, he'd be the first through, the one given the honor of contacting the gods. He hadn't even been born when his people had left their homeworld, but Admiral Rachelas had thought it best to give this job to someone whose body was strong.

Strung looked at Device B. It was a disk station, with nothing in the middle. It sat alone in space. He saw a light blink and turned on his communication system. Admiral Rachelas was addressing everyone now.

"My fellow Constanians, we are ready to activate Device B. If Device A is operating on the other side of the galaxy, we should soon see a wormhole appear. If we have calculated everything correctly, this wormhole will also be connected with the higher realm of the gods themselves. If the gods choose not to reveal themselves, then we must accept their decision. It is their choice and not ours. We pray that they do reveal themselves though. Commanders, you may begin."

Strung saw several lights flash on Device B and the whole station start to rotate. After a minute, his attention was devoted away from Device B as a brilliant flash of purple appeared in front of the station. The wormhole had been created.

A tear dropped from Strung's eye. The same was happening to thousands of others watching. It was the culmination in more than a half century journey and difficult 4 years establishing a colony.

Strung hit a few buttons and his shuttle raced forward. The purple got closer and finally surrounded him as the ship was engulfed.

The sight of the wormhole from inside was one of the most amazing sights Strung had ever seen. It was magnificent, like something outside of this universe. He could almost feel life everywhere in it.

"This wasn't a wise decision."

Strung turned around. A man stood there. He looked like a Constanian, although there was definitely something different. "Are you from the gods?"

The man shook his head. "I'm afraid you have the wrong realm."

"I'm sorry," said Strung. "I guess we will have to adjust."

The man looked at Strung with annoyance. "I don't know where your gods reside, but I know you're lucky your whole universe wasn't just destroyed."

"What?"

"You are trying to make contact with beings that exist in completely different ways than you do. Some would destroy you for sport, others by accident. If you keep trying to contact the higher realms, long before you find your gods, you'll destroy yourselves and probably a lot more. It's not a big deal to me, but I suggest you stop now."

Strung gulped hard. Could the man be lying? After a few moments he decided this wasn't some trick; there was no reason for a trick. If what he said was true though, they couldn't risk anymore adjustments. After all of their work, they would never be able to make contact. "I will report this."

The being nodded. "Good." He looked around with some disgust. "I don't like having a connection to this universe. It's uncomfortable." He made a sick face. "I'm going to make the wormhole something more neutral. For your own good, don't change it anymore."

The man disappeared and as he did, the wormhole changed colors. It went from the brilliant violet to a light grey. It was still magnificent, but something was certainly gone.

The shuttle exited on the other side of the wormhole and Strung looked at the space before him. He saw a station that looked like Device B, but it must be Device A. It was surrounded by thousands of ships. That was certainly a big party. That he was going to have to disappoint them all, as well as everyone back on Destiny, was extremely painful.

His communication monitor blinked, and he activated it. Two men appeared on screen. Strung started the conversation. "I'm Captain Strung from the Salvation and the colony Destiny reporting in from the other side of the galaxy."

One of the men smiled. "Excellent. I'm President Monroe, the sitting leader of the Constanian government. This is Raje Adams, the head of the church. On behalf of Constanians everywhere, we thank you and the crew of the Salvation. Did you make contact with the gods?"

Strung explained the situation. Monroe said, "Nothing we didn't expect from this side. The important thing is the wormhole is stable. Go back through and tell Admiral Rachelas that we will be detonating Device A and coming through."

"Sir?" said Strung otherwise completely speechless at this order.

"Sorry captain, but a lot has happened since you left. The Constanian Confederation is almost completely gone. We've been chased out of virtually our entire space and still we are attacked. Our people, what is left of our people, will be safer on the other side of this wormhole."

* * *

_An armada of ships from all over the galaxy approached a Borg fleet. Inside the command ship, a man gave the order, "Engage."_

_"The Separatists have broken the cease fire," said Master Windu. "Several Milky Way governments are already aligning with them."_

_"Then more bloodshed is inevitable," said Palpatine._

_"Execute Order 66" said Palpatine._

_"The Dominion remains a threat, as well as a violator or rights," said a women from her position in the Senate. "We must confront them."_

_"When the Death Star is completed, we will begin our final conquest."_

_"The galaxy is mine," said Palpatine. "And an even greater reward is before us."_

_The Bajoran Wormhole opened and its bright blue brought a feeling of strong discomfort._

Sidious came out of his meditation. In many ways, conquering this new galaxy would be so much easier than taking complete control was before. There was one force he couldn't completely account for though. They would have to be dealt with quickly.

Sidious activated the transmission.

"My master," said the hologram of Dooku bowing.

"Rise," said Palpatine. "What have you discovered?"

"The Prophets are not the only ones whom the wormhole has connected with our universe. There is a second group, the Pah-wraiths. I can sense that they still have a connection on Bajor. We might be able to use them to eliminate these Prophets."

"Yes," said Sidious nodding. He had sensed there was something on Bajor which could do exactly that.

"Do what you must to destroy the Prophets connection to our universe. Once that is done, nothing can stop us."

Dooku smiled. "My lord, what is our plan now? Is civil war still necessary?"

"Yes," said Sidious, "but for now, the Borg are going to prove quite useful. The fear they will cause will allow for an almost unchecked increase in my power."

"They are dangerous," said Dooku. "Impossible to control."

"That is the beauty in them," said Sidious. "After that, the powers will fall into lines. The Milky Way alliances are very unstable."

Dooku nodded. "Yes my lord."

"Now go. Use the Pah-wraiths and destroy the Prophets connection to our realm."


	9. A Tale of Two Worlds

Chapter 9: A Tale of Two Worlds

There is often not a lot that separates a trading center from an isolated location. In late 20th century Earth, there were few inherent reasons New York was still a better location for major financial markets than Chicago or Los Angles, but once established, economic centers tend to build momentum. Coruscant had always been the center of economic activity, but the Merging had pushed everything up a few notches.

It had started with Republic merchant ships. In the fear and confusion following the Merging, many had sought out safety. For those in the vicinity, there was no place perceived safer than Coruscant. After many had taken refuge behind the naval capital ships of the Republic, a new bunch had started heading toward the system. Local Milky Way governments had decided to send representatives to the Republic capital and even more local Milky Way merchants headed there to see if there was a chance for some business and to get a jump on the competition. As hyperdrive spread, Milky Way groups from much further started sending ships to Coruscant. Hearing of all the commotion, even more Republic merchant ships came to the system to deal with the newcomers.

In short, Coruscant, even by its standards, had attracted an incredibly large fleet of outside ships. As the days went by, the Republic navy had gradually pushed most outside the system, but still ships were arriving. The last one to enter the system, being tractored by a larger Republic merchant ship, would have preferred to keep going.

Looking at the world, Chakotay said, "It is an amazing sight,"

"I'll say," said Harry Kim. "I hope they are on our side."

Janeway said, "Their chancellor has seemed very reasonable so far. Actually, he has seemed nothing but kind, and he has to be under a great deal of strain."

Kim knew better than to protest. Janeway turned to Tuvok. "Any familiar ships out there?"

Tuvok hit a few buttons. "Many. I'm detecting known ships from all four quadrants. There are three Dominion ships, 2 Klingon ships, a Romulan ship, a Trabe ship, 35 Ferengi ships, one Federation ship, two…"

Janeway hearts skipped a beat and she cut him off. "Which Federation ship?"

"The Enterprise."

Janeway nodded to herself. They were no longer the furthest ship from home.

Chakotay sat down; as anxious as he was to get home, this next part was going to be harder on the Maqui.

Janeway turned to Tuvok with a smile. "Hail them."

* * *

A large 3d hologram of the galaxy had been set up in the military command center. A light red hue covered most of the galaxy and represented the presence of the Republic. Various other colors represented the major Milky Way empires. Updates were still occurring and disputed areas weren't all properly in yet, but the picture was much clearer than it had been even a few days ago.

Palpatine analyzed the hologram. Since the crisis had begun, he had spent most of his time here. His office had been equipped to more accurately and quickly show vital information, but still he spent most of his time closer to the military leaders of the Republic.

Admiral Robinson, General Greece, and Master Yoda sat in conference as Palpatine walked up.

Greece said, "Chancellor, we have compiled the reports on the Borg and are ready to make further recommendations."

"Have you figured out why our weapons have become less effective against them?"

"Yes," said Robinson bringing up a hologram of a Borg cube. "The Federation calls it adaptation. The Borg study our weapons and make rather extreme modifications to make their ships more resistant. They adjust shield strength, frequency, layers, and shield distance from the ship based on the weapon being thrown at them. The ship armor even adjusts in some ways to better take impacts. All of this is done in extremely short periods of time before weapons hit and then adjusted for the next impact"

"Could we make these modifications ourselves, improve the designs of our own ships?"

"No," said Greece. "Not most anyway. These require an extreme amount of quick precision which is only possible given…the nature of the Borg."

Palpatine sighed. "How are the campaigns going?"

"Badly," said Yoda.

Robinson spoke up. "It's not that we haven't had success. Assimilation of new planets has slowed considerably, and we have destroyed a large number of Borg ships."

Yoda said, "Causalities, too high they are. Built up the Borg are well beyond their space would suggest. Support from all Republic worlds will we need if victory in Delta Quadrant we seek."

Robinson grudgingly conceded, "If they had seriously pushed for it, I imagine the Borg could have assimilated the entire section of the galaxy, Delta Quadrant for the lack of a better term, in a matter of years."

Greece took over, "What's left of the 5th fleet has been combined with the 6th. Admiral Johnston has had the 8th fleet engage almost no one and Jedi Master Koth has quietly recommended that he be removed."

Palpatine sighed again. "Too many admirals who are too reluctant or too eager to engage." He turned to the small Jedi, "Master Yoda. I am going to give greater authority to the Jedi to conduct the missions, but I still want the Jedi focused primarily on securing the peace around the galaxy."

"Peace we will attempt to secure. Not all wish it. For Borg though, full galactic mobilization will this threat require. Nothing less, will Borg defeat."

"I understand Master Jedi and the factories are moving in that direction, but I'd have half the Republic in revolt if I tried to move much more now."

* * *

"That is completely unacceptable," said Janeway standing and speaking firmly. "You are talking about three of my senior officers. Voyager would not be here today if not for actions by all three of them."

Janeway was in the Enterprise's conference room with Captain Picard and Commander Chakotay. On the room's viewscreen Admiral Ross remained calm.

"Be that as it may," said the admiral, "it's Starfleet's policy that no officer who broke their oath and joined with enemies of the Federation ever be readmitted as an officer. Even in the darkest hours of the Dominion War that policy was never reversed. We will look at all the Maqui on a case by case basis when you return, but I'm afraid at the very least the officers who served in Starfleet are not going to be retained."

"They are members of my crew," said Janeway.

"Complete a full report, captain. We'll talk more when you return to the Alpha Quadrant."

The screen went blank.

The three sat in silence for a moment. "If you'll excuse me," said Captain Picard rubbing his head and standing up. He had no desire to be with Janeway anymore until she calmed down. "I have matters I need to attend to. You are free to use the conference room and contact others if you wish."

"Thank you captain," said Chakotay.

"My pleasure," said Picard, still rubbing his head. He really needed to go lie down.

As Picard left, Janeway turned to Chakotay. "You've done more in the past 4 years than most first officers do in 20. I'll make sure Starfleet knows that."

Chakotay looked down and then finally forced himself to look at her. "No captain."

Janeway would have none of that. "You are a member of crew, and I won't stop standing up for you just because of Starfleet arrogance."

Chakotay spoke calmly and firmly. "Katherine, they aren't going to reverse the decision and there are others you should focus your energy on. Seven is only beginning to get her humanity back and should stay here. Starfleet is also not going to want to keep the doctor as chief medical officer. There will a number of opportunities in the new galaxy for Tom, B'Elana, and me, but Seven and the doctor very much need your help. Besides, I don't think a lot of the Maquii will want to serve once we get back."

"They've been part of the crew for four years."

Chakotay said, "Yes and and some will want to stay, but most still remember the Federation abandoning us. Once we tell them about the Dominion, they are going to want to go and see what's left of their families."

Janeway sat in silence. A promising day had turned depressing.

* * *

Anakin stared at the lines of hyperspace as his mind drifted to the future. Could he really keep his relationship with Padme a secret? Sisko had seen through him, and he was just a man. Could he really hide this from the Jedi, from Obi-Wan or Master Yoda? "Do you ever think about giving up the title of emissary and…and just leaving Bajor, leaving your Federation?"

Sisko looked at Anakin oddly. "No," he answered. "Well not really. There have been times I've wanted to give up the title of Emissary. I believe in the Federation though. It has warts, but it's worth defending, worth dying for. As for Bajor, I've come to appreciate it as one of jewels of the quadrant. It's not a power in any way, but its people have a fire and a faith I haven't seen matched."

Anakin just nodded. He should have guessed as much.

"What about you? Are you thinking of leaving the Jedi?"

"I don't know," said Anakin. "Being a Jedi was all I ever wanted to be, but… there are more important things."

"Yes there are." After thinking for a few minutes, Sisko asked, "This girl, the one you aren't seeing, what would you give up for her?"

"Anything," said Anakin without hesitation.

"Yes," said Sisko slowly to himself. "I guess that is the right answer."

* * *

Destiny (Bajor), Constanian Space 13,451 BC

The planet's Constanians resident population had swirled from just under 60,000 to 1.8 million almost overnight. The change had been stark. While the crew of the Salvation tended to be extremely religious and optimistic, most of the newer residents came from a very different background. They were mostly members of what had been the political class on the Constanians, were much less religious, and given life experiences, much less optimistic in attitude. Unlike the Salvation's crew, they had seen their people's vast confederation destroyed piece by piece and most of their people murdered outright.

In the presidential "palace" President Monroe sat next to Raje Adams. The raje was the official head of the Constanian church, but Adams had nowhere near the power of his predecessors. Given the collapse of the Confederation, the president had appointed him directly. The former crew of the Salvation had little respect for this man whom they viewed as a politician pretending to be the raje. The 1.8 million refugees meanwhile were far less religious than the average Constanian. Still Adams did his duties and would try to bring prestige back to his role.

The lights blinked and President Monroe called in his visitor. Admiral Rachelas walked into the room. He sat and the president began by asking for a report.

"Mr. President. I have talked extensively with the Malkans and given almost 5 years of dealing with them, I think I get a pretty good impression of their thoughts."

"And what are your conclusions?"

"Mr. President we must leave Destiny. They consider the arrival of a fleet and so many new colonists as a violation of their space."

"That's ridiculous," said Raje Adams.

Rachelas said, "I agree, but it doesn't change the fact that we aren't a match for them. We just don't have the strength."

The president shook his head. "I've spent the last 10 years fleeing from one world to the next. I watched our fleets take on the full might of an empire a heck of a lot stronger than the Malkans. We are not running from them."

Rachelas nodded. "Mr. President, our numbers are just too small here. If they come, and I think they will, we can't stop them."

The president wasn't moved. "Not again. We aren't moving again. No more jumping from planet to planet. This is either our new home or we will go down fighting. No more running."

"I have an idea," said the Raje Adams. The two men turned to him. "When the wormhole originally opened, Captain Strung reported meeting with a man from a higher realm. He was of no help, but the gods must be there as well. Even if they aren't, we can find someone who will help us. I've talked to our scientists on Device B and they report they can still change the frequency of the wormhole."

Rachelas injected, "Absolutely not. Raje, I understand the desire to try the wormhole again. I spent most of my life trying for that moment. We can't risk the whole universe for our selfish needs though."

Adams turned to the president. "Please Mr. President. It might be the only way."

President Monroe bit his lip hard. He wanted to say yes to Adams so bad. "No. Reachelas is right. We can't risk it. We'll make our stand here on our own."

After the meeting concluded, Raje Adams walked to one of his friends in the science department. He'd made friends with several. "We are going to have to do it without the president's blessing."

* * *

Nu glanced over at the forbidden book again. As a researcher and naturally curious, it was difficult for her to avoid taking the book and seeing what was inside. She resisted the urge in the name of diplomacy, but kept looking none the less. The book evoked a powerful Force response and there was definitely something to it.

She picked up a book and flipped the page. Halcyon was off exploring some Bajoran ruins which left her alone, but it was for the best. She was quicker this way.

Nu dropped the book suddenly sensing a disturbance in the Force. Something was very wrong. She walked to the door just as Kai Winn entered. "Master Nu, have you found everything you were looking for?"

Winn saw the old book Nu had dropped lying on the floor, and gave Nu a distasteful look.

"Kai Winn, is there any problems in the archives?"

Suspicious that Nu was doing something she shouldn't, Winn said, "Not that I'm aware of. Why?"

"I sense something," said Nu just as an alarm went off.

Four Bajoran security personal rushed to the Kai. "Eminence, there is an intruder who has broken past the outer security. We need to get you out of here now."

"What intruder?" said Winn, resisting their efforts to push her away. "Who would break in here?"

In answer to her question she heard Bajorans phasers down the hall. Whoever was coming apparently wasn't being stopped.

Nu said, "They are right. You need to leave immediately. This is a grave threat."

"Alright," said the kai. To the security members she said, "Lead the way."

The interior archive was a bad place to get caught. Because of the importance of the documents in the area, transporters inhibitors protected the entire library which made a direct beam out impossible. There was also only one way in and one way out, which meant any escape would require running down a hall and getting to the end before the intruder got to the corridor intersection. The kai and Bajoran security forces started running. After watching the direction they were going, Nu quickly sped up trying to get in front. She was a Jedi, but not the youngest of them.

In front of them, the sounds of phasers died down and then disappeared completely. Just before the group made it to the end of the hall, a lone man with a red blade turned the corner and faced the oncoming group. The security team pushed the kai to the side and turned their phasers to the intruder. His lightsaber easy deflected the bolts back at each one of them.

Nu activated her own lightsaber and jumped in front of the kai.

"Master Nu," said Dooku, "You weren't who I'd guess the Jedi would send all the way out here."

"They wished for a researcher to come. Why are you here Dooku?"

"I too wish to study the mystery of the Prophets."

"Then why the weapon?" said Kai Winn.

"I don't believe you would have allowed me to view the book I wish to see."

Winn knew instantly what he was seeking. "The Book of the Kosst Amojan can only be viewed by one person."

"So it's said. Perhaps I should take you with me."

"Dooku," said Nu. "Is this the way to a better galaxy? You always believed in that, believed that the Jedi could be doing so much more. I always thought you were right. Why have you turned in this direction?"

Dooku said, "I still wish for a better a galaxy. The Jedi are hopelessly outdated though and the Republic even more hopelessly corrupt. Change must occur from the outside and the Pah-wraiths can be a great service to the cause. You should join me."

Nu shook her head. "Your views have been distorted. You just killed dozens of Bajorans so that you could rob from them and you speak of a greater galaxy. This is not the Dooku I knew."

"I suppose not," said Dooku. Never losing his demeanor he said, "I always liked your work. I'm sorry you will have to be the first Jedi I kill."

He jumped at Nu and her blade went up to stop his. The blades danced quickly back and forth.

Winn saw an opportunity and darted past both of them back toward the interior archive. Nu felt Dooku's concentration drop for just a moment. She went on the offensive swinging at his feet. Dooku's blade caught Nu's and with a Force push he threw her half way down the hall, narrowing missing the kai.

Dooku looked momentarily at the vulnerable kai rushing ahead. He decided he didn't want the extra baggage of having to bring her with him and let out Force lightning as she screamed in agony. Nu jumped up and stopped it with her lightsaber as Winn fell to the floor.

Dooku said, "Too late for her I believe."

This time Dooku fought faster and Nu was completely on the defensive. Slowly she was pushed back into the interior archive. The remaining Bajoran security rushed forward at this point and targeted their phasers on Dooku.

As Dooku went to block the blasts, Nu knew this was her last chance and did a half jump, half roll toward Dooku's back. She swung up hoping to get him before he could respond. She took off half his cloak, but his lightsaber made it back to stop her. Again he Force pushed her, this time into a shelf of books. She hit it hard.

As she landed, she fought for consciousness. Dooku decided to end it and the book shelf fell on top of her. Nu blacked out.

Dooku walked to the end of the room, past the Bajoran security. "The Book of the Kosst Amojan, only supposed to be read the kai of the Bajorans. We'll see what the dark side says about that."

* * *

Picard sprang up quickly from his bed. He was panting. His connection had been mostly been lost years ago, but one very small receiver remained and had been discovered by Starfleet after the last attack. It wasn't anything that could be used against him, but let him see a few things when they were in the neighborhood.

Picard got out of his bed quickly, bumping his foot against the side of a chair.

He reached for his communicator and hit the button, "Picard to bridge."

"Riker here. How can I help you captain?"

"Yellow alert. Assemble the senior officers and prepare to contact Coruscant. The Borg are coming."


	10. Dark Clouds Growing

Sorry for the really long delay between chapters. I had a ton of time, but didn't write and then got really busy. The rest of this story is written (just needs to be edited) and my goal is to release the next chapter on Friday and the remaining 2 chapters the Fridays after that. Also for fun, I'll put a chapter with the original story written back in high school. I've come a long way in writing since then.

Note: I should have made this note a long time ago, but if you don't want to read the backstory on the Prophets/Pah-wraiths feel free to skip it. I wanted something to explain some of thing and really like it, but I know it got kind of long and is probably not that interesting to some people. This is the last chapter of it, but it's a bit longer here than before too.

* * *

Chapter 10: Dark Clouds Growing

Prophesies have been told throughout the ages. When they turn out to be true, they can become the centerpieces for whole religions. Rare was it in history however to have two men together who are central figures in two seemingly unrelated prophesies from completely different cultures.

In a ship traveling through the new galaxy from Coruscant to Bajor, Ben Sisko and Anakin Skywalker sat each caught up in their own fears. Anakin, exhausted, was finally in an uneasy sleep as the ship approached its destination.

Sisko meanwhile needed to make a decision on something he wasn't even sure he knew the question to. He finally let his mind drift. He knew who would have an answer to this. He used to ask her everything. Could he still truly see her as she was? He closed his eyes.

_Sisko pictured his quarters as they originally were on the Saratoga. There was a cradle for Jake to the side of their bed. Pictures of their wedding hung on the wall along with holographic image from the last World Series. He looked to the side and he could see Jennifer. He remembered her as she had been as best he could. The image wasn't perfect, but as he concentrated harder the image seemed to clear. She was gorgeous as ever. _

_Jennifer stared right at him, "What do they want you to do?"_

As Anakin slept, he could see Coruscant.

_Padme, confident and in charge as always, turned to the security chief as he rushed to the door initiating several locking sequences. Padme asked him, "What is it now?"_

_"Borg have entered the building. We need to lock down this room."_

_"Here. How?"_

_"I don't know, but they are on the floor above us."_

_A half dozen guards surrounded the door as two others pushed Padme back to the corner of the room. Outside, the sounds of automated blasters could clearly be heard._

_Jennifer repeated the question. "What do they want you to do?"_

_Sisko shook his head in frustration. "I don't know! I don't even really know what the question is, but if I say no I'm not sure what will happen."_

_Jennifer smiled. "What will happen if you say no?"_

_The security locks only lasted a moment. The door opened and the guards started firing their blasters as the drones poured in. The blasts accomplished nothing, bouncing off personal shields of each drone._

_From the corner, Padme watched as the drones overpowered the guards and injected them with something. She reached for her own blaster and started hitting a few buttons. Let's see if what they can handle a lot more powerful blast._

_Sisko rubbed his head. "I think the stakes are high. We have two universes combined together for whatever the Prophets have in mind. If I say no, there is no telling what could happen."_

_"Do you trust them?"_

_Sisko thought about the Prophets; he hadn't been thrilled to be named Emissary or to have his life intertwined with them. Time had changed a lot though. Bajor had become his home. When he retired, he imagined he'd buy a house on Bajor and grow old there. Grown too had his sense that the Prophets would do whatever they had to defend Bajor. Sisko shook his head, "Yes."_

_Jennifer put her arm around him. "But you are worried to say yes. Worried about what they'll do to you."_

_Sisko looked into her eyes. "They don't even want me to be a father."_

_The Borg started toward the back of the room. The 2 remaining guards rushed forward to confront the drones hand to hand. They didn't last long. _

_Padme looked at the blaster. The safeties were off and it was about to overload. It was now or never. She threw the blaster toward the Borg and the explosion knocked her to the ground. _

_"Do you think they will take away your free will?"_

_"What?" _

_"Your free will. If you say yes, are you going to become a mindless drone?"_

_Sisko shook his head. That wasn't how they operated. "No."_

_Jennifer hugged him. "Then this choice isn't a final one. You might have to leave us behind for a while, maybe even longer that that," She glanced back at Jake in the crib, "but agreeing to join them now isn't going to mean you stop loving us or mean you won't protect us if you get the chance."_

_A tear dropped down Sisko's cheek. "I miss you."_

_She touched his cheek. "We'll be together again someday."_

_Three Borg were down on the ground severely injured, maybe dead, but others slipped past them. Padme fought as they grabbed her. She resisted as one picked her up, but resistance was futile. The Borg put his assimilation tubes into her neck. She screamed, "Anakin!"_

Sisko came back from his daydream knowing his decision was made. Whatever it was the Prophets wanted, he was going to have to go along.

Anakin snapped back awake. It had been exactly like his dreams about his mother. The agony, the feeling that his time was slipping. He wasn't going to let it happen again.

Sisko didn't notice what Anakin was doing with the controls until the lines of hyperspace disappeared. "What are you doing? We won't be there for a half hour."

"We're turning around," said Anakin.

"Turning around?" said Sisko. "You can't turn around."

"Watch me," Anakin said. "Sorry, but I've got to get back."

"Surely whatever it is can wait."

"I'm not adding an extra hour!" said Anakin yelling. He hit a few buttons and the ship started to turn.

"I have to get back now. Bajor is in trouble."

"So is Padme and I'm not abandoning her."

Sisko desperately tried to find an alternative. He would overpower Anakin if he had to. He could feel the time slipping away. He looked at the computer starcharts Anakin had pulled up. Then it hit him. How had he missed it before? "The wormhole!"

"What?" said Anakin as he instructed the computer to make the calculations to return to Coruscant.

"It leads to the Gamma Quadrant and is closer to Coruscant than this location. You can save time by going through the wormhole."

Anakin would have ignored Sisko, but he could sense he was telling the truth. "Alright, but I'm not slowing down when I get there."

"That won't be necessary."

* * *

Dooku made himself put down the book. The Pah-wraiths were connected to the Dark side and they wanted him to read the book regardless of any protections it had. He could feel them calling him through the book. He had been successful. He had broken through all of its safeguards; all it was costing him was his mind.

Dooku looked at the book, wanting to read it, knowing he could read it, he could see the Force signature of the Pah-wraiths all over it. Was this really what he wanted though? He knew what he wanted for the galaxy. He wanted a more ordered, more civilized galaxy. One were the Sith would maintain a peace and order that the Jedi had never been able to accomplish. Was that still what he would want with the Pah-wraiths? Was this power worth the cost?

Dooku resisted picking up the book for another moment and then felt powerless to avoid giving in.

* * *

A sense of calmness and acceptance had come to Sisko. He could see that the same feeling was not shared by the young Jedi. "What's wrong with Padme?" Sisko asked.

Anakin didn't reply at first and Sisko didn't think he was going to at all. "I had dream," Anakin said finally, as if that explained everything.

"Of the future?" Sisko asked confused.

"Not if I can help it," said Anakin.

Sisko gave a short almost pained laugh. "I would have done the same for Jennifer."

Anakin didn't say anything. Sisko thought of the Saratoga again. This time he thought of leaving Jennifer's body there as he was dragged off. "Get back to her quickly. I'm sorry I took you away."

Anakin finally turned to him. He gave a weak forced smile. "Good luck to you too. I hope these Prophets don't have too much they want you to do."

Sisko nodded. Anakin turned back around and hit a few buttons. "Are you going to help them like they want?"

The ship exited hyperspace. Sisko didn't answer Anakin's question. He clicked his combadge, "Sisko to Deep Space 9."

After a few moments he heard Kira. "Captain, it's good to hear your voice."

"What's going on?"

"The kai is dead. Someone broke into the interior archives and stole the Book of the Kosst Amojan. It's said the book holds the secret to releasing the Pah-wraiths. There is panic all over Bajor and we've had at least 10,000 Bajorans asking where you are."

"Prepare to beam me back."

"Understood."

Sisko saw Deep Space 9 approaching and he looked to Bajor. If he wanted to protect this, he was going to have to be prepared to make a sacrifice, to finally completely embrace his role as emissary.

"Are you ready Captain?"

"Belay the order," said Sisko, slowly realizing the station wasn't where he needed to head.

"Captain?"

"The Forest is still on the other side of the wormhole negotiating with the Dominion?"

"Yes."

"Just in case, tell them to be prepared to beam me up."

"Just in case…Ben what's going on?"

"I'm not sure." He paused for a minute. "Major, take care of the station. Sisko out."

Anakin looked at Sisko, but didn't question what had just gone on. The ship went past the station and the wormhole opened.

Anakin couldn't help starring at the bright blue colors. The Force felt different here, as though its will was quite different here for some reason. The feeling didn't disappear until he left the wormhole.

As the ship entered the Gamma Quadrant and the blue disappeared, Anakin turned around. Sisko was gone. Anakin didn't dwell on it. Now wasn't the time. Anakin calculated the jump to hyperdrive.

He was the last person ever to go through the wormhole.

* * *

Tebor 5 Research Center, Cardassia Prime, Dominion Space

Janice had been the lead scientist for this center for more than 20 years. Of all the things that had come here to be studied, nothing had ever fascinated her as much as the orbs from Bajor. She walked up to one now.

Years of study on the orbs or not, they really had discovered very little. Whatever secrets the Prophets kept, they hadn't been revealed yet. "When did the spike in energy readings start?"

An aide spoke up, "About an hour ago…"

Both Janice and aide were cut off as the orb lifted itself up and burst through the air and through the roof. Ten minutes later, Cardassian ships detected it moving quickly away from the system on a course toward Bajor.

* * *

"Say that again," said Kira to Odo over the comm.

"The orb is gone. Its case is still here, but it flew through the wall."

Worf spoke up from behind his station. "I've detected the orb approaching a location on Bajor. It appears other orbs are joining it."

"OK," said Kira to herself. "Why?"

"Major!" said Worf. "I'm detecting major distortions in the wormhole."

"On screen."

The wormhole opened, and for a moment, Kira saw it bright and powerful. The blue was beautiful as it had always been.

Then it stared to fade. The wormhole remained opened, but its light seemed to dim. After a few seconds Kira couldn't see it anymore.

"Report!"

Worf hit several buttons and looked at Kira in disbelief. "I'm not detecting any signs of the wormhole."

* * *

Raje Adams walked along the bridge of Device B. The reports were coming in that the Malkans' fleet would be here within the hour. President Monroe, is spite of many pleas from Admiral Rachelas refused to withdraw. Adams knew this meant the end of Destiny was approaching. Now was the time for him to make the raje title worth something again.

Adams ducked down as blaster fire went off all around the bridge. Half the command crew was knocked out before they knew what hit them. Adams looked up and nodded with satisfaction. So far, so good.

He spoke to one of the men still standing. "Do it quickly. I'll be in the shuttle."

Ten minutes later, Raje Adams was in a shuttle approaching the wormhole. It opened with the light grey color he had seen when it first appeared. Within 10 seconds though, the grey was replaced with a bright fire red. He entered the wormhole and slowed down.

"Who are you?" said someone behind him.

The raje turned around and gulped. This is what he wanted, but it was still startling to have someone appear like that with no warning. Even more startling was the man before him. He was glowing red; he almost seemed to be on fire.

"I am Raje Adams. I am the spiritual leader of the Constanians who live on the nearby planet. I am trying to make contact with the gods, or else someone else who can help us."

The man looked at Adams for a good twenty seconds before responding. He smiled. "You wish to destroy your enemies."

"Yes," said the raje. "They threaten us unjustly. "Who are you?"

The man's smile widened. As he did, Adams got the chills and goose bumps formed. "We are the Pah-wraiths. We will destroy your enemies, but we need to form a more permanent connection with your world outside of just this temple."

"Temple? You mean the wormhole?"

"Yes, wormhole," the being said absently. The man looked at Adams again, seemed to be reading him in some way the raje couldn't see. "There is a place on your planet which should do nicely."

"Good," Adams said.

"If you want our help though, you'll have to swear allegiance to us."

Adams gulped, but didn't back down. This is what he wanted. "I swear."

* * *

On board the Salvation, Admiral Reachelas looked over the readings. The Malkans would be here soon and he had no doubt that his life would end then.

"Admiral! Device B has started sending signals toward the wormhole and it has affected the wormhole's energy output. A shuttle has also entered the wormhole."

Reachelas could see the whole thing in his head instantly. Adams had been spending too much time over there. He had never dreamed Adams would go this far, but he didn't have a question who had done this. "Dam that fake raje. Transport troops onboard the station. Adjust the wormhole's energy outputs back immediately."

Reachelas went to a station and hit a few buttons. "Captain Strung. There is a shuttle in the wormhole. Destroy it!"

Several minutes passed and Rachelas received reports the bridge of Device B was secure. The crew was having difficulty switching the energy levels back though. Precise control of the wormhole had only been possible when both Device A and B had both been available. Still they tried and the wormhole started alternating between the fire red color and a new bright blue color.

* * *

The man's smiled faded. "We are losing our connection to your realm."

Raje Adams looked panicked at his controls. The navy had responded quicker than expected.

The Pah-wraith started fading in and out. He grabbed Adams hands. Adams hands burned badly as something appeared in them. "Take this!" said the being. "It can only be read by you, the religious leader of your people. On the nearby planet, there is a cave which has the right composition to give us a full connection to your realm. Use blood to see these instructions. Once we have returned, we will destroy all of your enemies."

The being started to fade completely and Adams hit the navigation buttons on his control panel.

As Adams exited the wormhole he was fired on. He dodged the next couple of blasts and took his shuttle into Destiny's atmosphere.

* * *

"Admiral, the shuttle has left the wormhole. We still can't get the energy level right."

Rachelas shook his head. "No time for that now. Stop messing with it. I don't want to draw the Malkans attention to the wormhole. Tell the crew of Device B to not let the station fall intact. Last thing we want is for the Malkans to have the ability to change the wormhole themselves. Once the current link is severed the wormhole should be independent right?"

"In theory yes," said a scientist.

"Good. Now…"

Rachelas was stopped in mid-sentence as the screen switched to show a massive Malkan fleet entering the system.

"All hands prepare for battle."

* * *

Captain Strung hit the shuttle again with a torpedo, but its shields were strong. It looked like it was trying to land, but Strung wasn't going to let that happen. He fired again.

His communicator blinked and he listened to the raje's message.

"I can save our people. Please just let me finish what I've started. The navy doesn't need to be involved at all."

Strung didn't respond. His next shot hit perfectly and he saw the shields phase out for a moment. Good. Just one more blast should do it.

Strung got the ship in sight and paused for just a moment. Could the raje really save them? He shook his head. The gods had chosen not to reveal themselves and he would live with that decision even if it ended his people's existence. He fired a perfect shot that penetrated the shields and hit the raje's engine. The ship exploded and its lone occupant, the last raje of the Constanians died. The explosion left no piece of the ship bigger than a nickel with the exception of one lone book which fell to the ground seemingly undamaged.

Captain Strung took his shuttle back out of the atmosphere to engage in the main battle. As he came up, he saw thousands of enemy ships. They were inferior in design, but their numbers easily made up for their short-comings. He looked in another direction just in time to get one last look at the Salvation. They had travelled for 60 years to get here and succeeded in creating the wormhole, if not in contacting the gods. He personally had spent his entire life on that ship. Nothing of this world last forever though and the Salvation exploded.

* * *

Dooku laughed hard as he set the book down. All of this time with planning and sneaking around and tricking the Jedi was pointless. He would overpower them directly.

Dooku's heard his communicator and picked it up annoyed. Palpatine appeared on the other side. Dooku dispensed with the normal signs of respect. "What do you want?"

"Darth Tyrannous, your mission has been a success. The Prophet's connection to this universe has been severed. They have left behind toys which we must deal with, but no more."

Successful? They hadn't unlocked the true power here yet. "The Pah-wraiths have yet to be released. With them, we will be unstoppable."

"I foresee no future for the Pah-wraiths in this universe."

"Maste…" Dooku laughed. "Did you ever have any intention of keeping the promises you made to me, any of them?"

Sidious didn't even attempt to hide his deceit. "No."

"You would have killed me in the end."

"Yes."

Dooku smiled. "You will be my servant before this is over."

Sidious didn't smile. "You were a valuable pawn. You will be difficult to replace."

Dooku crushed the communicator and Sidious disappeared. It was time to see who was the real master of the Dark Side. Dooku started walking to the fire caves.

* * *

It had taken hours, precious hours for Picard to work his way through the Republic's chain of command and finally get to talk to someone who could actually do something. He had finished talking to a Jedi a few minutes ago and was now talking to Palpatine himself. "Yes, I am completely confident that the Borg are coming here in force."

"How strong do you think they'll be?"

"I don't know, but the Borg wouldn't send any fewer ships than they calculate will be needed."

"Your Federation's information so far has been extremely detailed and useful. I'm going to assume you are correct. Thank you Captain."

* * *

_"Padawan Nu, you undervalue your own skills. The Jedi need people with your skills more than they'll ever need another expert with a lightsaber."_

_Nu could see a burning camp fire._

_"Master Nu, you will assume duties as the Chief Librarian of the Jedi Achieves."_

_Nu saw a city burning._

_"Master Nu," said Dooku, "You are one of the few that really understand the problems the Jedi have."_

_Nu could see a whole planet burning._

Nu pushed herself back into consciousness. She saw Bajoran doctors standing to the side. Halcyon was over her trying to use his healing techniques to help her recover.

She felt extremely weak, but pushed herself to sit-up anyway. She was in a hospital somewhere.

"You need to rest," said one of the Bajoran doctors. "You're lucky to be alive."

Halcyon said, "She's right. Even with the Force, you'll need time here."

Nu, in spite of a pounding headache ignored him. "We must get to the Fire Caves."

The Bajorans seemed to take a jump back. Halcyon just said, "The Fire Caves?"

Nu moved her legs of the bed and concentrating with the Force tried to put weight on them. She could, but this wasn't going to be a fun trip. "Dooku is going to try to release something the Bajorans call the Pah-wraiths. If he went to all this trouble, they must be real and of the Dark Side."

Halcyon wanted to protest, but he knew no one would know better than the women in front of him. "All right, but I lead."

* * *

Picard felt himself rematerializing on the Enterprises transporter pad. He was utterly exhausted, but he'd sleep in his ready room if he slept at all. He had spent the last couple of hours going over information about the Borg with Republic commanders. While he didn't add much that hadn't filtered back through the Republic forces in the Delta Quadrant, far from all were up to date on many of the strategies for effectively fighting the Borg.

Picard slept on the turbolift until he heard the door hiss open and walked onto the bridge. "Report."

Data spoke up. "While we have difficulty differentiating all Republic military ships from their civilian counterparts and ships from other civilizations, I estimate that the Republic currently has almost 1200 capital ships, with the average mass about the same as the Enterprise. This is supplemented by tens of thousands of fighters which have left hanger bays."

"Ships are continuing to arrive," said Riker. "We're also pretty sure the Republic has gotten a few allies who are supplying additional ships. There are better than 500 warp drive ships that have entered formation with the Republic ships."

The red alert siren blared. Everyone looked to Data. "I am detecting a large mass of ships exiting hyperspace. It is the Borg."

"On screen."

The viewscreen was completely full of Borg ships. None of them had ever seen anything like this. "My God," said Riker. "How many?"

"201 cubes sir."


	11. Does the Center Hold?

Chapter 11: Does the Center Hold?

Their Bajoran escorts had been left at the cave entrance. The Jedi knew there was nothing the Bajorans could do. Halcyon wonders if Nu will be any more help in the battle that is sure to come and would have preferred she stay behind too, but of course she refused.

The two are silent walking through the caves. Dooku hasn't set any traps, but their guard can't let up for a second. It took hours getting this far, but Halcyon feels the end approaching. He doesn't dare say anything out loud, but he sends a message with the Force, "Master Nu, it has been a true honor working with you on this mission." He means every word of it. Watching Nu is watching a true master at work, the likes of which he doesn't expect to see again.

"The pleasure has been all mine," she thinks back. Halcyon can feel her pain even as she thinks the words. Jedi or no, she is old and her body has taken a lot in the last day.

They turn a corner and see a wide opening. Dooku is pouring something over the edge. He turns to them. "Look what fate has sent me. Two Jedi to be the final sacrifice."

* * *

_"We are the Borg."_ A simple statement of who they are and why you should listen. _"Lower your shields and surrender your vessels." _The logical next step of an encounter with the Borg. "Your culture will adapt to service us." The promise for the future; heartless to everyone else, but to the Borg a promise that your culture will be put into something larger and more important. _ "Resistance is Futile."_ The statement that the Borg will win and trying to avoid that outcome is pointless.

As the cubes approach Coruscant, the Republic ships break into groups. Each group is assigned a group of cubes. As had been recommended by Picard, each group is instructed to concentrate their fire on a single cube and eliminate it before concentrating on another. Behind the Republic ships, hundreds of Corta ships and a handful of other recent allies of the Republic set up position preparing to join in the next wave.

The Republic ships fire as soon as they are within range and the Borg do the same. The ships do not stop and soon the ships are intermixed. The first Republic ships to enter the fray quickly start to disappear, but the first line of Borg ships also start to look beaten up. Regeneration begins at remarkable speeds, but the Republic ships don't let up and the Milky Way allies pull in and start their own assaults.

* * *

Halcyon and Nu activate their lightsabers. Dooku laughs. "Master Nu, I spared you before. Are you sure you are ready for another round?"

Nu looks at Dooku. There was nothing odd about the words themselves, but the way he said them sounds so unlike himself. His natural charm is gone she realizes. In the Force, he feels like a completely changed person. What had happened to him? "You have gone mad Dooku. The Pah-wraiths will bring nothing but destruction. This is not what you said you wanted for the galaxy."

Dooku laughs. "My imagination was too limited. Now I understand true power." He pulls his lightsaber out and the red blade activates.

* * *

As the ships of the Republic and Borg fight, more than a hundred thousand commercial, government, and military vessels from thousands of worlds sit in another part of the solar system unsure of what to do. Some head to Coruscant trying to transport representatives back to their ships. Others are already setting course away from the system. Most are still watching, not sure how to respond. On the Enterprise, Picard looks at the numbers. "Estimation of the Republic's odds?"

Data responds quickly with his calculations. "Difficult to say with available data and known Borg adaptation. Given the large number of Republic encounters with the Borg, I cannot estimate how quickly the Borg can continue to adapt or if they have already fully adapted to Republic weapons. I estimate the Republic stands somewhere between a 39.2% and a 48.3% change of repelling the invasion with its current force. If Republic reinforcements continue arriving at the rate they are now, the percent rises to between 49.9% and 60.7%."

Picard shook his head. If Coruscant fell now, their best hope of a force cable of fighting the Borg would be greatly diminished. The Republic had a galaxy worth of resources to call on, but so many of its forces had been sent to the Delta Quadrant or elsewhere in the galaxy. It had only been hours between his warnings getting through and now and…and a loss here could send them into complete disarray.

"Data prepare to coordinate the movement of thousands of ships."

"Sir?"

"Just do it."

Data moved to a side station and started hitting a number of buttons.

"Lt. Slaughter, open a channel to all non-engaged ships."

"Yes sir," said the tactical offer. It took a few moments before saying, "Ready sir."

"This is Captain Picard of the Federation Starship Enterprise. The Republic is currently fighting the Borg. They are a cybernetic race who control a substantial portion of the Delta Quadrant. The goal of the Borg is to assimilate the entire galaxy, to take all intelligent life in the galaxy and turn it into Borg."

Picard pauses for just a moment and speaks slower. "I know most of you know little or nothing of the Borg. I know getting involved in a battle of this kind violates orders you have and would risk your life."

"I also know though that the Borg are enemies to all life. Their message wasn't just sent to Republic ships; it was sent to everyone here. It has been sent to thousands of worlds who have never done anything except provide the Borg with a target they deem worthy of assimilation. If you leave, they will not stop here. If you leave, the most organized force ever to oppose them might be eliminated and we will regret this day for the rest of our lives. Today we have the chance to stand up and stop the Borg."

"If you are willing to fight the Borg with us, send a message to the Enterprise. We are organizing a fleet to support the Republic and will be leaving momentarily."

Picard waits about 30 seconds and turns to Data, who is quickly clicking through the controls. "Sir, we have already received word from almost a 1000 ships asking to help."

Picard turns to the screen. He knows many of those 1000 will do little more than provide cannon fodder, but maybe they could make a difference. "Give them and any additional ships patterns to follow and ships to target."

"Helm, set a course for the battle."

* * *

Halcyon and Nu charge forward together, lightsabers held high. Dooku slides to his left giving him a chance to focus on Nu alone for a few strokes. She blocks the first one fine, but the strength behind the 2nd one knocks her back. Dooku's lightsaber drives toward her.

Halcyon dives forward and put his lightsaber between Dooku and Nu. The blade saves Nu by inches. Dooku withdraws and Halcyon attacks back.

Dooku lets himself be driven back some. Halcyon is younger and more powerful. Dooku is patient, deflecting each attacked.

* * *

The Enterprise led the next wave against the Borg. More than 4000 ships, some tagging behind a little, approached the battle. Among the ships were some small ones with minimal fire-power, but they were accompanied by powerful Milky Way ships wanting to make a good impression on the Republic, Delta Quadrant civilization ships who wanted nothing more than to be part of this fight, Republic merchant ships worried about those they cared about on Coruscant or in the Delta Quadrant, and some who simply deduced that the Borg were what they had been claimed and worth fighting.

Picard looked over a console. "Data, focus our efforts on the cubes in grid 7. That will give the Republic some relief without us overcrowding them."

Phasers, torpedoes, distributors, turbolasers, and ion cannons from the new fleet hit the cubes. As they do, Republic and allied ships successfully finished off the rest of the front line cubes. The odds have turned completely against the Borg.

* * *

Dooku had been allowing himself to circle, waiting for an attack from Halcyon that was just slightly too powerful. He feels it finally come and Dooku counters it and takes a small step to the right. His swing almost hits Halcyon.

Nu reenters the fight at that time though coming at Dooku from the side. Dooku gives a Force push to Halcyon just as Nu's blade comes at him. He doesn't try to block it.

Dooku drops to the ground and swings his lightsaber at Nu's legs, cutting clean through them midway between her knees and ankle. Nu falls to the ground hard with her eyes closing in pain.

Halcyon comes at Dooku, but the Sith is ready for him with his lightsaber up. Dooku mockingly says, "It was so nice working with her wasn't it?"

* * *

Picard asks, "How many cubes are left?"

"32 cubes are still functional enough to attack. Most have suffered severe damage and lost substantial mass."

"Don't let ships be ignored just because they can't fire right now, even if they are just a small section of the original cube."

* * *

Halcyon pushes aside his feelings of hurt and anger. They will do him no good. Nu fought well given her state, and he might still be able to save her later.

Halcyon knows Dooku will win this if it is a long drawn out fight. Dooku is the more experienced one and less likely to make a mistake over an extended period. A quick fight though might be different. Halcyon knows he needs to be quick and over-power Dooku. He swings again and again, not giving Dooku a chance to attack back or rest. Dooku blocks each blow.

Halcyon decides to take a new approach. He starts forcing Dooku toward the edge of the cliff edge. He does a quick jab to the left and then a swing to the right. Dooku anticipated the 2nd attempt and does a summer salt to the other side of Halcyon.

Halcyon turns around quick. He would have blocked a lightsaber attack easily. Dooku, still on the ground, uses Force lightning though hitting Halcyon a split second before he can get his lightsaber up. Halcyon is stunned by the lighting, pushed over the side, and falls to his death.

* * *

Picard watched on the viewscreen as pieces of the last cube disintegrated. Clapping could be heard around the bridge and he couldn't help smiling.

"Remind the Republic flagship that all ships need to be checked for Borg."

Picard walked over to Data.

He saw thousands of dots on the screen. He noticed a few by Coruscant. "What are those ships?"

"Republic ships mostly sir." Data hit a few buttons. "They were severely damaged in battle and sought safety behind the planet's shields." Data's voice dropped a note on that last part.

Picard had warned them to keep them away from the planet. There had been so much though; it must have slipped their minds. "Contact the planet. Tell them we may have a problem."

* * *

Nu watched Halcyon fall and could feel the triumph Dooku felt. Now was the only chance she would have. She concentrated on her still lit lightsaber sitting on the ground and used the Force to push it toward Dooku. Normally he would have easily blocked it, but he had been too focused on his triumph and only responded at the last minute. The lightsaber went through part of his side and he dropped to the ground, unable to believe what had just happened. He was going to die.

* * *

Drones continued to arrive in the secure building. The planet's shields and control of all emergency systems could be controlled from this location if necessary. Their immediate goal was to assimilate all systems here.

* * *

Nu saw Dooku collapse to the ground and felt his life draining. She wouldn't survive long enough to escape here in all likelihood either, but her life was a small sacrifice to stop Dooku now. She thought of the Achieves. This would be a story all the younglings would go look up. She smiled.

Nu looked back at Dooku. All of a sudden the life came back into him. No, more than just his life had returned to him.

He stared at her for a second. "You thought you won."

Nu burst into flames, killed instantly.


	12. To Steal a Soul

Since I was a little late on the last chapter, I figured I'd be a little early on this one. Of the two climax chapters, I think this one is definitely the stronger. Enjoy

* * *

Chapter 12: To Steal a Soul

Over a period of thousands of years, the orbs had left the wormhole and landed on Bajor. While the orbs were the most important artifacts in the Bajoran religion and while the Prophets had revealed much to the Bajorans (and learned much themselves), the full purpose of them had never been revealed. As the last orb took its place, no real answers were provided to the Bajorans, but more questions would arise to be studied in the coming years.

All nine known orbs were now in a circle around a mile of uninhabited Bajoran dessert. In the center of the nine, a 10th previously unknown of orb sat, the Orb of the Emissary.

The center orb started to disappear and as it did, a figure started to appear. Benjamin Sisko looked around at the dessert around him. He reached down and picked up some sand and let it fall between his fingers. He laughed. It felt good to be back.

* * *

Coruscant had fewer Jedi on it than at any time in the last 1000 years. Jedi had been sent all over the galaxy, negotiating peace treaties and dealing with the many issues that threatened the peace, justice, and order of the galaxy. In spite of this, the planet had not been deprived of its greatest defenders. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda were in a ship travelling to one of the core building of the Republic.

"The building was designed not to be able to be scanned," said Obi-Wan to assembled Jedi.

Yoda reached out with the Force. "Thousand, more Borg there are."

"Timing is of the essence," said Obi-Wan. "Most of the building in well underground and extends a long way in all directions. We can't take it out from the air without causing several millions deaths. If we don't act quickly though, they won't have a choice. We also don't know if they have penetrated other areas of the planet and we may be called on elsewhere."

The assembled Jedi nodded.

* * *

It was agony for Anakin. He knew time was slipping. He could feel it was almost gone somehow, but he still had 10 minutes of hyperdrive before even entering the system. He hit a few buttons and adjusted his coordinates. He would cut this as close as possible, danger or no.

* * *

The ships descended and almost the entire complement of Coruscant's remaining Jedi and older Padawan's rushed out. Yoda led one group through a passage that would more quickly lead to the lower more secure levels. Obi-Wan led a group in a more direct route straight into the facility.

That is when Obi-Wan got his first up close look at the Borg. He had sensed them before, but now was able to see the people who had lost everything to the collective in more personal way. The feeling of the Force was strange; two conflicting presences in the same person. "Our primary objective is to eliminate the building of Borg. If you see a way to save someone do it, but we can't slow down."

* * *

Picard looked at the tactical display and noticed weapons fire. "Put that on screen."

The viewscreen showed a Republic ship in orbit of Coruscant. It was being fired at by half a dozen other Republic ships and from the ground. It had to be causing damage on the ground and killing a number of people, but still the Republic was fighting back. The screen shifted to another ship being fired at, and then another.

"Captain," said Lt. Slaughter. "Almost a dozen Republic ships within the planets shields are being targeted."

Picard nodded. Destroying them had to have been a difficult choice, but he couldn't argue with it, not with the danger the Borg posed. He would have done the same.

Picard had already sent them all known suggestions on battling Borg close up. "No reports of other locations the Borg have beamed to?"

Data said, "Not at present sir."

Good. One spot would be easier to contain the Borg than multiple.

"Incoming transmission from Ambassador Spock."

"On screen."

"Captain Picard," said Spock. "I am aware that Borg are on Coruscant."

"That is correct, but try not to spread the word. A panic will do us no good."

"A logical choice. Captain, might I suggest another action."

Anything that would let them do more than sit on their hands was a welcome suggestion for Picard. "I would love to hear it."

"The USS Voyager is in the system and has both an ex-drone and doctor who has removed Borg equipment. Your own doctor has done the same. I suggest setting up secure areas to remove parts from assimilated drones. We would be unable to do a large number, but even unassimiliating a small number will be received very well by the Republic."

Picard nodded. The security procedures would have to be very tight. "Thank you Mr. Spock. We will do so."

"Mr. Slaughter transmit the plan to Voyager and ask if they believe their security measures are up to the task and then hail the planet. Number 1, Data, Slaughter, after that get down with Doctor Crusher and make preparations."

* * *

Anakin felt his ship dropping out of hyperspace. He had to do a quick spin to avoid a piece of a ship. He had cut it as close as he could and was almost on top of Coruscant's shields. He hit an activation code to let him pass through a portion of shield, but the code was rejected.

* * *

The Republic had destroyed every ship which it had detected any Borg presence on within the shields. If they had acted a minute earlier, the 2nd location the Borg targeted wouldn't have been hit at all. If they had acted 30 seconds sooner, many fewer drones would have made it to the location. As things stood though, the Borg had succeeded in installing transporters on two of their partially assimilated ships. They sent this next wave of drones to a part of the planet they calculated the Republic would be unlikely to hit with an attack from space. They sent a large number of drones to the office buildings of the Galactic Senate.

* * *

Dooku looked at the almost disappeared corpse of Nu and laughed. The caves erupted into a massive fire and collapsed. The rubble avoided Dooku though, simply pushed him up toward the surface. He saw the blue sky and a Bajoran city in the distance.

Now was going to be the time to unleash the full furry of the Pah-wraiths.

"Hello Count Dooku."

Dooku turned. Understanding struck his face. "Yes, of course. The Emissary of the Prophets. They left you to complete their work."

"You could say that."

With a smile, Dooku said, "And what is the first thing they'll have you do?"

"They didn't exactly give me a list, but I think the first thing I'm going to do is remove the Pah-wraiths from this universe."

Dooku shook his head. "You may be my last real challenge. This will be enjoyable."

* * *

Padme looked through the last details flowing in. Captain Panaka turned to her with a half-smile. "The Jedi just arrived and are fighting the Borg. The reports don't make it sound like the Borg advance has been quick enough for them to infiltrate the deeper areas."

Padme nodded. "Good." She turned to her other aides. "We need to start anticipating the Senate's reaction to this attack. Obviously a strong effort against the Borg is going to be needed, but there is probably going to be suggestions…"

Alarms went off. Security from outside rushed inside and Captain Panaka rushed to the door, initiating several locking sequences.

"What is it now?"

"Borg have entered the building. We need to lock down this room."

"Here? How?"

"I don't know, but they are on the floor above us."

"Please head to the back of the room Senator." Two of her handmaidens almost forced her back. Padme could hear automatic blaster fire in the background.

* * *

"Let me through right now, or you are going to have a seriously pissed off Jedi."

The shield officer wasn't comfortable in this spot at all. "I can't sir. Everything has been overridden to block any drop in the shields until the remaining ships have been thoroughly checked for presence of Borg."

Anakin could feel the anger boiling over. His time was almost gone.

The officer on the other end hit several buttons. "Wait."

"What?" said Anakin, not sounding like a Jedi at all.

"The shields have been overridden to allow a few ships with Borg removal experience to pass through. I'll send you the coordinates and report you are going through, but I don't know they won't fire on you."

"It doesn't matter," said Anakin. He could avoid whatever they would throw at him.

* * *

Flames erupted around Sisko, but he just stood there. Sisko knew this wasn't a battle to prolong long. The Pah-wraiths power would only grow and continue to overwhelm Dooku. Still he needed to let Dooku use up a little energy, to let his defenses drop a little.

Sisko talks to Dooku. "You choose the wrong side of this fight. The Prophets understood the Pah-wraiths better than the Pah-wraiths ever understood the Prophets."

Mildly amused Dooku said, "The Prophets didn't understand this universe. Even the concept of time escaped their grasp." Flames erupted around Sisko again, 20 feet high closing in on him, but they did no damage.

"No. But the Prophets understood the Force."

* * *

Anakin's ship caught up to the Enterprise and Voyager just before they went through the shields. One thing actually went right for a change and he wasn't fired on by anyone. The officer he had talked to had apparently been competent. Anakin brought his ship into a very steep dive toward the Senate.

* * *

The drones broke through the door. Security fired everything they had at them, but the Borg had adapted to these weapons and the power was simply not high enough to overcome their personal shields.

Padme watched as a drone pushed some kind of needle into Captain Panaka. She grabbed her own blaster.

* * *

Some think that claims of adaptation to the contrary, the Borg try the same tactics over and over again. While those arguments aren't entirely without merit, they mostly stem from the Borg being slow to adapt to specific situations rather than their general protocols being inefficient. Many adaptations also go unnoticed. For instance, the average Borg on Coruscant, like Borg on any planetary mission, was equipped with more than 200 times the standard complement of nanoprobes. Meanwhile drone shields had been specifically set up to deter all common Republic weapons (adding additional weapons would increase the needed power output to inefficient levels).

Once on the planet however, the Borg find it almost impossible to adapt to one element: the Jedi. The Borg tried concentrating fire, surrounding the Jedi and attacking physically, larger explosions, and variants of those attacks, but they find the Jedi impossible to stop. Nothing has been successful and no ability to adapt to the lightsaber is discovered in spite of multiple hits.

Obi-Wan slices through a drone and reaches for his communicator. "What is it?"

Yoda speaks. "Borg, in the Senate there are. Take group. Too, sending most of mine."

"In the Senate," says Obi-Wan horrified. "That won't leave you with many to fight here."

"Manage we will."

Obi-Wan directs the Jedi out.

* * *

Anakin activates the landing gear and jumps out on the floor even before the ship is down. He rushes inside and sees his first drone. It is split in two in less than a second. Anakin rushes down the hall. Drone after drone try to engage him, but to say they are no match, would be an understatement. His lightsaber cuts through them and he dodges around them when that will save more time. At last he is to Padme's office.

There is a large hole where an explosion had gone off. He sees scattered remains of drones. He also sees other drones installing new equipment. He sees Padme. He can feel the dual nature of her now. She is trapped inside, but her thoughts are of the Borg, the Borg control her.

Anakin's anger snaps. He jumps towards the drones and decapitates the first one, the man who had once been Captain Panaka. The others come at him and in a spinning move he takes more of them out immediately. He slices through another and then grabs another with the Force, choking it, putting all of his anger into the drone. The drone drops to the ground dead.

Only one drone remains and comes at him. Padme doesn't even fully have the Borg equipment installed, but she has most of it. As Padme pushes her assimilation tubes toward Anakin, he grabs her arms and holds them away. It takes the Force to withstand her new strength.

A tear drops down his cheek. "Padme. Padme."

She keeps trying to free herself, to assimilate him.

The anger returns to Anakin. This is what the Borg do. They turn your loved ones against you. They had to be destroyed. He felt the Borg parts in Padme. He didn't know the name, but he felt the nanoprobes and equipment connecting her to the collective. He turned his anger toward those pieces of technology. Padme started to shake and after a moment, she passed out.

* * *

Obi-Wan had been leading Jedi through the Senate as effectively as possible clearing out the Borg. All of a sudden he knows he needs to get to Padme. For some reason, he can feel Anakin there. He goes to an elevator. It's off, but he uses the Force to push himself up a section at a time until he is on Padme's floor. He rushes down the corridor.

* * *

Anakin looks at Padme. They had done this to her. The Borg had done this and they needed to pay. There was more Borg down the hall. He looked toward them anger boiling. He started to stand up when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

He turned and saw Obi-Wan. "Look what they did to her! Those things!"

"I know," said Obi-Wan understandingly. "Right now you need to take care of Padme though. If we don't help her now then they win."

Anakin looked back at Padme. The nanoprobes were gone, but the layers of technology were still on her. She also felt very weak. Whatever he had done to her may have consequences.

Anakin forced his anger down. He had to save Padme. Everything else, even justice, was secondary.

Obi-Wan sensed Anakin's anger calming and said, "I am going to send you to a ship which can get that stuff off of her. Are you ready?"

Anakin doesn't make any movement at all, but Obi-Wan hit his communicator. "Two to take up. One assimilated, but has been disabled. She requires immediate medical help and is a very important Senator. A Jedi is accompanying her."

Anakin and Padme vanished.

* * *

Sisko walked toward Dooku. Flames 100 feet high tried to engulf him, and now Sisko starts to feel their effect in spite of his efforts. "Count Dooku, you can break out of this. Don't let the Pah-wraiths control you. Is this really what you want?"

Dooku shook his head. "This whole universe will be for the Pah-wraiths and I will be its leader."

It was too late then, far too late probably. Dooku, whatever kind of man he had been before this was gone. The Pah-wraiths had him twisted him into their puppet, just as Sisko had worried the Prophets might use him.

Sisko kept walking toward Dooku. The heat was melting rocks around him and as useless as it was Sisko started to sweat. "I told you the Prophets understood the Pah-wraiths. You can't win this way."

The flames were half a mile high and had to be causing damage to Bajor. They descended down onto Sisko and the rocks turned molten. Sisko was pushed back, but someone managed to keep standing. He walked up to Dooku, not 10 feet away now.

Dooku wasn't laughing now. He tried to boil Sisko with the lava. Sisko grimaced and fell to a knee, but didn't sink into the lava. The concentration in Sisko's eyes didn't disappear.

Sisko pushed aside the screaming pain urging him to leave. He focused on Dooku's connection to the Pah-wraiths. A small, small part of Dooku still resisted, and that was all that stood against them being released in their full might.

Sisko concentrated on the connection between Dooku and Pah-wraiths. The book was useless now, it's mission fulfilled, now all that connected them to this world was their connection to Dooku. Sisko felt that connection in his mind…and broke it.

Dooku's face turned momentarily stunned and then the lava destroyed him.

* * *

At first Anakin had wanted to lash out at the thought of an ex-drone being here, at her being the one to be part of removing this from Padme. Then he had realized that was what Padme was now too. Fortunately the equipment hadn't been as ingrained as in this women and Padme looked almost normal again. The medical issues had been serious, but the doctor, who didn't even appear to exist in the Force, had been excellent.

Now Anakin watched Padme sleep, vowing to never let anything happen to her again.


	13. End of the Beginning and a Preview

Notes: I've deleted all of my original episode II besides chapter 1. I've replaced it with a preview and plan on starting episode II soon (hopefully next week, but no promises). Once it's started, the new chapter 1 replace the preview.

Notes to reviewers I can't respond to:

Elrik Jundis: Thank you for the kind words. That review was really nice to read.

Nami: I won't say how exactly, but the Borg will attempt to make a lot of adaptations in episode II.

Original story: Next chapter on this story is this story as it was originally written.

* * *

Chapter 13: End of the Beginning

Padme protested loudly, "You're not leaving the Jedi!" She was ordered to bed rest and still weak, but got up protesting.

"Yes I am," said Anakin. "I couldn't protect you today because I was a Jedi and I'm not going to let that happen again."

"We are going to have a massive war. You know that?"

"Yes, but protecting you is more important."

"Anakin, everything we love is at stake. I won't walk away from the Senate knowing what needs to be done and you can't do this either."

"I'm going to the Temple to tell Obi-Wan now."

With that Anakin walked out the door, ignoring Padme's cries to turn around.

* * *

Palpatine was in front of thousands of Milky Way representatives and Republic officials and being broadcast all over the galaxy. While most were still recuperating in hospitals, among the audience were a few members of the Senate who had been unassimiliated and still showed scars from their battles. They were featured almost as prominently as Palpatine. "Ladies and gentlemen, two days ago, Coruscant faced what could have been the worst disaster in its long history. It could have been completely destroyed. Thanks to the brave actions and sacrifices of many, it continues to live."

Applause can be heard around the room.

"Now we must look to the future. Republic, independent and Milky Way worlds in the Delta Quadrant continue to be seized and this assault here shows the Borg will not stop in the Delta Quadrant. We have sent details of the Borg, their actions, and their tactics to every civilization that we have encountered and by now all should know that the Borg are a threat to all life."

The room was completely silent. "We have one chance to rid the galaxy of the threat of the Borg. Right now, the Republic is united and preparing for war. Planetary fleets are being organized into Republic fleets. Ships are being built, troops being trained. All of the resources of the Republic will be turned to defeating this threat to everyone."

Palpatine looked around the audience, as if addressing everyone individually. "The Republic cannot do this alone though. We need help, and I am asking everyone to consider what you can do. Today, I am announcing the formation of the Grand Coalition. All Milky Way worlds are invited to join and asked to contribute as much as you can to this battle with the Borg."

There were quiet murmurs, people talking about whether to get involved. Palpatine allowed it for a moment and then continued. "There are many to thank for the success in the Battle of Coruscant, far too many heroes for me to name now. There is one man who above any other though needs mentioned. One man who gave us advanced warning of the Borg coming, who gave us advice on how to prepare, who recognized a danger on the planet that had been overlooked, who organized a fleet of ships which tipped the scales in our favor, and who led an effort to save assimilated members of the Senate. This man is Captain Jean-Luc Picard from the United Federation of Planets."

A spotlight went over Picard and a roar of applause could be heard all around the room. Picard had not been informed of this and not prepared. He stood and nodded his thanks.

The clapping continued until Palpatine started again. "Captain Picard, the Grand Coalition will need a leader. It will need someone who understands the Borg, who understands diplomacy, and who understands war. I can think of no better person in the entire galaxy to lead it than you. Will you accept this position?"

Picard was speechless for a second. He had expected a call for galactic unity, but he had assumed it would be led entirely by the Republic. Here he was though with a chance to lead an entire galaxy's worth of forces against the Borg. He knew Starfleet wouldn't approve of him just accepting this without consulting them. He didn't care. If he had to resign his commission he would do so. This was more important than him, more important than Starfleet politics.

The room was silent, waiting for a response. "It would be an honor Chancellor."

The room erupts into applause and Picard knows he's just accepted a nightmare.

* * *

Anakin walked out of Padme's apartment, but he wasn't in the hallway. He felt the wind against his face and sand hitting him. He was on Tatooine.

Anakin saw the sun reflecting on the desert around him and Mos Eisley in the distance. He activated his lightsaber.

A familiar voice spoke, "You won't need that."

Anakin was surprised at who he saw. "Captain Sisko."

"Just be Ben now please. Good job in saving Padme."

"I wasn't in time to stop what I saw."

"No, but you were in time for the most important thing, for saving her life."

"I'm done being a Jedi."

"That is your choice and I won't argue it. It will even make my job easier. If you want to remain being one though, I promise to keep an eye on her when you are gone."

Anakin saw a speeder race across to the spaceport.

"You can do that?"

"Yes."

"I thought you were just a Federation captain."

"I've learned a lot since we last saw each other."

Sisko looked to the city. "I can't do everything you can. I have no precognition for instance."

"But you transported me across the galaxy…And you can keep Padme safe?"

"I can keep my mind focused on a couple individuals and see the dangers around them."

Anakin thought of the Borg. Maybe he could fight them after all.

"Anakin I do have to warn you, someone is trying to push you to the Dark Side. I don't know who, but the dreams you've had have not been coincidences."

"I gave in, in the Senate."

Sisko nodded. "Your emotions, your love and determination are part of the reason you were chosen by the Force and why you are the one I need to help me."

"Help you with what?"

"To finish the Merging."

"How do I do that?"

"By bringing balance to the Force."

To be continued in Star Trek and Star Wars Episode II: Necessary Wars

* * *

Preview of Episode II. Warning: This contains small spoilers. It is also a teaser trailer so things will not happen exactly as they appear here. Skip if you want to.

Palpatine: The Borg are a threat to all life.

A small ship of refuges look out the window and sees a huge fleet of Republic and Milky Way ships.

Palpatine: They have attacked hundreds of innocent worlds in the last month and a half.

Borg fleet assimilates a Republic planet.

Palpatine: But now we will strike back.

Picard on the bridge of the Enterprise, obviously going on little rest and surrounded by various generals. "Give the fleet the order. It's finally time. Engage."

Dozens of fleets engage various Borg positions.

The founder looks at Nute Gunray. "You need us more than we need you. We might be willing to help though."

Sisko throws a baseball to Anakin. "You need to start looking at the Force differently."

Ships fire from orbit at the Jedi as drones approach him from every direction. "You will be assimilated."

Padme stands in the Senate. "In the face of such obstacles we cannot lose focus or react in anger."

Obi-Wan rushes to the front to engage the Borg himself.

The Borg Queen appears on the screen of the Enterprise to Picard's shock. "Greetings galaxy…"

"What happened?" says Palpatine to Picard.

Picard answers, "They adapted."

"I can't give you much time," says Palpatine. "The Grand Coalition is falling apart and we are running out of options."


	14. Original Story

This story was my first fanfiction and I'm happy it's finally complete. I got the idea for this story when I saw Star Wars Episode I and started writing it back in high school. I found an uncompleted version awhile back that shows how far my writing has come. Below is the version that was my original complete version that I submitted for the old achieve which contained a lot of Star Trek/Star Wars stories (and is actually a lot better than my uncompleted version from a few years earlier). I'm certainly not a great writer now, but looking back it's at least nice to know I can see progress.

I don't know if he is reading any of these anymore, but if he is, I'd really like to thank X-Over. He read this story like this and liked it enough to write me and encourage me to keep going and then Beta read for me in episode II and my first attempt at a rewrite of this story. X-Over sorry I haven't made it further.

It is said that there are an infinite number of universes. That for every choice that is made a unique new universe emerges.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away and in our own galaxy in the 24th century

Star Trek and Star Wars

Episode I

The Merging

It's a dark time for the Republic. Led by Count Dooku, the Separatists are gaining ground, as thousands of worlds start to consider and make preparations to leave the millennias old institution. Two assignation attempts against the former queen of Naboo, Senator Amidala, have already taken place. To make matters worse, the Jedi Counsel's ability to use the Force has been limited by the Dark Side. Obi-Wan Kenobi, in pursuit of a bounty hunter named Jango Fett, has been captured by a droid army. Anakin Skywalker and Senator Amidala, in an attempt to rescue their friend, followed him to Geonosis, only to be captured as well. On Coruscant, the Jedi are preparing to leave and rescue their companions.

The United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire have been fighting the Dominion for months now, and failure is the most likely outcome. The only thing preventing more Dominion reinforcements from coming through the Bajoran Wormhole and making defeat inevitable is a large number of cloaked self-replicating mines. In hope of changing the odds, the Federation makes plans to recapture their former wormhole base of Deep Space 9. Intelligence suggesting the Dominion found a way to deactivate the mines has forced the Federation to attack early, despite being outnumbered 2 to 1. Klingon reinforcements change the odds, and the U.S.S. Defiant slips through the Dominion lines and heads for DS9. The battle starts to lean towards the Federation and Klingons, but the Dominion is almost ready to destroy the mines.

The Defiant rushed towards DS9 at its best speed. Dax looked at the time. "Ben, if I were you I would start coming up with a Plan B." Sisko looked at the view screen as space returned to normal, they were out of warp. There was a huge explosion already in process. The sight was a nightmare. The mines were gone. They were too late. They had failed. Dax was the first to ask, "What do we do now captain?"

What was there to do? They had made it all the way back here, but now it was too late. He wasn't going to go back. "Take us into the wormhole."

O'Brien shocked said, "What the hell, were just going to meet a couple thousand Dominion ships."

Dax wasn't too impressed either, "One ship vs. a whole fleet that's one hell a Plan B."

"Chief how does that poem end?" it was Garak.

"You don't want to know."

The Defiant went through the wormhole. This was a fitting place for it to end. The crew had discovered the wormhole. The bright blue they had seen so many times seemed as beautiful as ever. "Full stop. Chief, divert all power to forward shields and weapons."

Dax: Captain, I'm reading multiple warp signatures ahead.

Sisko: On screen, Maximum magnification.

Thousands of Dominion ships filled the screen. Sisko knew what he was looking at and by the looks of his crew he could tell they did too. This fleet was almost three times the size of the one they just narrowly beat (which certainly didn't mean it was completely destroyed). There would be even more too. Well, if the Dominion saw any need to send more there would be. He wasn't really looking at the fleet though. He was looking at the end of the Federation. With this they could go straight to Earth. Defeat had always been the most likely outcome, but it had never been inevitable. But now defeat was very close indeed. It might be as little as two weeks away. The entire Federation, what it had stood for, there would soon be nothing left. "Lock phasers. Prepare to launch quantum torpedoes."

And then his life was lifted from that plain of existence. The Profits. Perhaps he should have felt grateful for this temporary salvation, but he didn't; he felt annoyed and extremely angry. "Why have you brought me here." "Show yourselves. What do you want?"

A figure that looked like Odo appeared. "The Sisko has returned to us." As usual, others started appearing and again disappearing. His surroundings looked like DS9, but that of coarse was an illusion too.

Jake: He has arrived with questions.

Kira: There are always questions.

"I didn't ask to come here." He really hadn't and they didn't have the right to just take him.

Dukat: You desire to end the game.

"What game? I don't understand."

Weyoun: You wish to end your corporal existence.

Damar: That cannot be allowed.

Odo: The game must not end.

"The game. You mean my life. Is that what this is about. You don't want me to die."

Dukat: The game must continue.

Weyoun: You are the Sisko.

"Believe me. I don't want to die, but I have to do everything I can to prevent the Dominion from conquering the Alpha Quadrant. If that means sacrificing my life and the life of my crew so be it."

Jake: We do not agree.

Kira: We find your reasoning flawed.

Odo: Insufficient.

"I'm flattered you feel that way but it doesn't change anything. Now send me back to my ship." The scene did change. He was on the Defiant, only still not the real one. "This isn't what I meant. I want to return to my reality."

Damar: You are the Sisko.

"I am also a Starfleet captain. I have a job to do and I intend to do it."

Weyoun: The Sisko is belligerent.

Dukat: Aggressive

Damar: Adversarial

"You're dam right I'm adversarial. You have no right to interfere in my life."

Kira: We have every right.

"Fine, you want to interfere, then interfere. Do something about those Dominion reinforcements.

Odo: That is a caporal matter.

Dukat: Corporeal matters do not concern us.

"The hell they don't. What about Bajor? You can't tell me Bajor doesn't concern you. You sent the Bajorans orbs and emissaries. You even encouraged them to create an entire religion around you. You even told me once, you were of Bajor. So don't you tell me your not concerned with corporeal matters."

"I don't want to see Bajor destroyed, neither do you, but we know that is exactly what is going to happen if the Dominion takes over the Alpha Quadrant."

Odo: He will not listen.

Damar: We must proceed ahead.

Weyoun: We have no choice.

Odo: The corporal time is incorrect.

Dukat: It is close enough.

Weyoun: It must start early

"What, what must come early?"

Kira: The merging.

Sisko looked around again. He was back on the Defiant. It was the real one this time. He looked up at the view screen to see the Dominion fleet. Before he could even realize what he was looking at, he was forced to the floor as the ship was thrown from the wormhole. "Report."

Dax looked at the panel in front of her. "We have been thrown just outside the Bajoran system captain. I'm not sure, but I think the Dominion fleet was thrown to their side." She trailed off at the end as she tried to figure out what she was reading. "Captain, I'm reading several new stars in the area. It looks like the star count around here has skyrocketed." What had the profits done? Then Dax noticed one other thing on her sensors. This one brought a smile to her mouth. "Captain, Deep Space 9's weapons are off-line."

"Good job, Major," Sisko said to himself. "Take us back and prepare to attack the station."

On Coruscant, the order was just about to be given to lift off. Yoda had already left to retrieve the clone army, but the rest of the Jedi that they could get where on board a couple of starships. Before they lifted off though, they all felt a massive disturbance in the force. The Jedi tried to concentrate on it for a moment and then started talking about it. One asked Mace Windu what he felt. The Jedi remained silent for a minute longer and then answered, "I'm not sure, but whatever just happened may have been the largest disturbance in the force in millions or even billions of years."

The pilot, who was about ready to hit the button to launch got an order and turned around. "Master Windu, I had permission to lift off, but have since been ordered to remain here. I'm not sure why?"

Still in total awe, Windu said, "It appears that Obi-Wan is going to have to wait."

In the Gamma Quadrant, close to the center of Dominion space, and also close to a cloning planet, Dominion ships detected a large ship just appear on their sensors. They did not ask questions. Immediately, a dozen small Jem'Hadar warships and one larger one set a coarse for it. Thirty seconds later, they were within weapons range. All 13 ships fired immediately. It's shields held for a moment, until a smaller Jem'Hadar vessel did a suicide run against its shield generator. After that, Jem'Hadar beamed over and took control of the ruined vessel.

In the Delta Quadrant, a Kazon ship detected a smaller ship in what the sect considered their territory. They powered their weapons and approached it. Unfortunately for the Kazon, size doesn't always determine power and the ship they were confident they could beat had raised its shields and quickly returned fire. The Kazon were little match for the turbolasers and iron canons coming at them.

In the very heart of the Republic, just outside of Coruscant, Republic sensors picked up a ship, coming in at high velocity in normal space. Fortunately, it stopped just outside the system, but when a young Republic captain requested to board the ship and search because of its proximity to Coruscant, fighting almost broke out. Cooler heads did prevail though, and the Republic could consider the Corta Alliance as the first contact with a new galaxy.

All over the galaxy space ferrying races were trying to figure out what was going on. Almost any government with more than a world found that it had other new systems inside its space. Each species reacted differently. Most just waited and tried to make sense of everything. Not all acted like that though. Some species, assuming they were under attack, stared attacking every unknown ship they came across. After less than an hour, The Dominion ordered almost all their ships back to the center of their space fearing something might happen to the Founders.

There was one species though that seemed to be affected little by the sudden changing of the galaxy. For the Borg, why this happened was unfathomable, but it didn't change anything for them. It only meant, they would have to adapt. They would find out eventually what had happened. After all, someone they assimilated would eventually have to know.

Vessel design unknown, species unknown, weapons analyzed, weapons inefficient to penetrate cube defenses. Cube 13569 assimilate. "We are the Borg, lower your shields and surrender your vessel. Your cultural and biological distinctiveness will be added to our own. Resistance is Futile." Vessel attempting to escape. Firing weapons. Shield down. Lock tractor beam. Assimilate vessel. Add technological and biological distinctiveness to our own.

On Coruscant things were a mess. It had only been half an hour since the event, and they were receiving millions of distress and emergency calls. It had never anticipated anything of this magnitude occurring. The Senate, which had been in session, had been evacuated in case this was some form of attack. The individual members were now in what were considered safe areas and trying to figure out what was going on. So far all anyone knew was that another galaxy had just popped right on top of them.

A great number of rumors had started though. One was that giants planet sized ships were currently destroying whole systems. Another more humorous one was that Republic scientist had been working on a new hyperdrive and had somehow transported the whole galaxy to this new place.

Word was also now being sent to higher officials, that new races around Coruscant were primitive and as confused as they were. In truth, no one really knew if they were more primitive. They had seemed that way from scans and initial contacts, but no one really knew. All the same, anything that would quiet the nerves of their own leaders was being used now. Palpatine sat in his chair in his office about to make a speech. He was told he was on and he started.

"Greeting all people of the Republic and all else who receive this transmission. As almost everyone is already aware, a major event has occurred. We here on Coruscant are doing our best to find out what has happened. It seems that our galaxy and that of another have some how merged. I must assure everyone this does not appear to be an attack. The center of both our galaxies seem to be at about the same location. From there, with what little information we have so far, it appears our galaxy expands slightly past the edge of theirs. This merging threw many, if not all our ships, out of hyperspace. This was fortunate, because without every additional star, planet, moon, and other astronomical phenomenon in the computers every jump would be the equivalent of a blind jump. There could have been millions of deaths. For the time being all ships in the Republic are ordered not to engage their hyperdrives again. We will update our computers with every new item as soon as possible, but for the time being, I must insist this rule be obeyed. If you find yourself under attack use it carefully. If there is an emergency that requires going across galaxy and cannot wait please slowly go above or below the galactic plane, stopping after shorts jumps until you are there. After that, proceed to the point directly above or below your location and follow a similar procedure coming in."

"Coruscant is capable of going through the numerous signals we are now getting. However, the sheer number of signals is slowing down response time to the true emergencies. For this reason we request anything sent to the government on Coruscant have a priority code attached. The code is as follows. Level 1 is planetary assault or other actions of that equivalent. Level 2 is for attacks on ships or life threatening damage to a ship. Level 3 will be used if you have a high representative from the new galaxy. Please do not contact us just because you have encountered a new civilization. Thousands others probably have as well. Level 4 is non-life threatening damage to a ship. Also, if you are just contacting us because there are a lot more stars, please stop, we already know. If you believe you know what caused this, please respond with a level 4 priority. If you are absolutely sure you know what caused this please respond using a level 2 priority. If you are a non-Republic ship ask any Republic ship if you need help contacting us. For every one receiving this not from my galaxy, I am Chancellor Palpatine representing the Galactic Republic which is made up of most my galaxy. I will send out another communication later when we find out more about what's going on. Thank you everyone. This message will continually run until we update it."

On Geonosis, Anakin and Padme kissed as they were being led out on chariot, to what should be their deaths. After their lips part they realize something interesting. They aren't heading the direction they should be. Instead they are heading back the direction they came. "Where are we going?" Padme asks.

"I don't know. I get the feeling that we've been at least temporarily spared though." Anakin had of coarse felt the earlier disturbance in the Force, but despite its enormity, he had quickly stopped focusing on it. It had seemed gigantic, but unable to help him, and unimportant compared to spending these moments with Padme.

Over the first day, a lot happened all over the galaxy. On Coruscant, Republic leaders finally started to accept that this was not an attack. Palpatine had stated that almost immediately, but no one had seemed to be very convinced. The Senate had reconvened and was trying to work through the chaos and find out something to do.

In the Alpha Quadrant, the Federation and the Klingons had signed a temporary cease-fire with the Dominion. There wouldn't be much fighting right now anyway, both sides were still healing from their wounds of the previous day, but both sides still preferred to have something official. All the major powers and most the minor ones had tried to contact Coruscant. Slowly they all were getting a chance to talk to someone. Of coarse, none of this Quadrant's civilizations had the ability to communicate that far, so they had to contact one of the Republic ships or planets and ask to use their equipment. This was very embarrassing for a few of the civilizations, which thought of themselves as very advanced.

The Ferengi had been in talks with large numbers of planets and ships and seemed to be working to acquire all this new technology first. Barely an hour after the unification had occurred, ships were receiving orders to negotiate for whatever new technology they could get. Many had started before those orders, and the Ferengi were shocked to discover that this Republic wasn't more advanced in all areas. That made trading easier. It especially made it easier when the Ferengi started coordinating. They would give one Republic ship transporter technology for hyperdrive. The next Ferengi ship would trade its transporter technology for Republic energy cores technology. Since the Ferengi were in an alliance and still able to communicate easily enough with each other and move around, and the fact that they were generally dealing with individual merchants or cut off members of larger groups who had to stay in one location made this easy. Very few were actually willing to trade anything yet, but even having just a few was giving the Ferengi a lot of business. By the end of the day, the Ferengi had almost all common Republic technology and some not so common technology and hadn't had to deal with a single official Republic negotiator.

A lot can change in a day Sisko thought. He was now in his office, back on Deep Space 9; two Starfleet admirals had just left about an hour ago, they had just received the same report he already had given once over subspace. Sisko figured they would probably be back in a few hours to hear it again. Yesterday, the Federation was as close to destruction as it ever had come, and now there was a cease-fire. Of coarse things were far from perfect. The Dominion could start up again at anytime. He didn't know what would happen if they tried to use the wormhole again, but he was far from confidant the Profits would stop them again. In addition to that, he had two ships of this new galaxy docked at the station. One was pretty small. It was a little outside of the Bajoran system and a galaxy class ship had tractored them here. The other had been farther away and had detected the station after it had stopped. Not wanting to be in the middle of nowhere, it had engaged its engine again and came here. That was just before the Chancellor of the Republic had sent out that communication.

From what Sisko had found out about their drives, they were fast. They were a lot faster than warp. This new group sending communications all over the galaxy probably would have other advanced systems as well. Sisko wondered about what would happen if the Dominion acquired this technology. No, there was no ifs, they would have it and probably sooner rather than later. They won't even have to use the wormhole, he thought. He just hoped that they would be so concerned about the Gamma Quadrant, with their space now full of new planets and ships, that they wouldn't put the resources back into the Alpha Quadrant. He didn't have a clue what the Federation would do if this new race was hostile. Spread across a whole galaxy almost definitely put them in the most powerful position. Admiral Ross walked in and interrupted his thoughts. "Admiral back so soon."

"Starfleet has just completed first contacted with the Republic."

"That was fast. Did they tell them my story?"

"Yes they did. They are a little skeptical." That was a shock; virtually everyone he had told in Starfleet was more than a little skeptical, and they at least had read previous reports on the wormhole aliens. "But they want you to go their capital anyway."

"How do I get there?"

"Actually we made them a deal. We gave them our star charts and they gave us this engine design of theirs. It's quite impressive. Ordinarily, we wouldn't have done something like that right through subspace, or whatever it is they use, but we are worried the Dominion might get it first. You won't be going by hyperspace on one of our ships though. It will take too long to install the engine. The bigger alien ship said they could carry the Defiant if they have to. I think the captain is just happy for an excuse to leave. Anyway we are downloading our star charts to him now and they should be ready shortly. A team full of ambassadors will follow soon on the Enterprise. It's near the Neutral Zone right now and has already been ordered back to install the hyperdrive. You'll get there first though. I can't tell you enough, how important it is that we have a good start with these people."

"I understand."

Back on Coruscant things weren't settling down. Thanks to brief negotiations with the Federation and a few other races they had encountered, they had managed to update the star charts almost completely, but sending that out to millions of ships was taking longer than just sending one speech. The Federation wasn't the first civilization they got charts from. They had actually already got quite a few, but the Federation's been far and away the best so far. Many in the government had not been happy about Palpatine "just giving" hyperspace technology away. The Republic could of coarse find all the information it wanted by itself. That would have taken time though, and these races would have acquired the technology on their own as well. The Republic simply couldn't control all trade. After all, all it took were a few merchants to spread the technology. Besides others argued, why keep potential friends from getting the technology, while others were attacking and getting it for free.

The Senate had come up with an idea to have a galactic summit and try and establish relations with all these peoples. The sheer number of governments and species was making this difficult. It had been a long time since the Republic had worried about first contacts. In the confusion, they had almost completely forgotten about the separatist forces. They had bigger problems for the time being. Several worlds, most of them in what the Federation called the Delta Quadrant had reported being under attack. None of the ones in the Delta Quadrant could be reached any more. All of the planets were under a small region of space and were probably being attacked by the same species. A small fleet was being prepared in the area to take out whatever hostile force existed. A few of the planets had said the species identified itself as the Borg.

Palpatine sat at his desk again. He was ready to make a speech again. It would be his second in a day.

"Greetings once again to all of the Republic as well as everyone else receiving this transmission. I am Chancellor Palpatine of the Galactic Republic. I am the leader of a republic that spans most of my galaxy. We would like to thank everyone for their patience in this difficult time. As I said earlier, it appears that two galaxies have somehow combined into one. One galaxy was ours, that of the Galactic Republic, and the other is one full of many small, but great civilizations. As of right now, we do not know what has caused this. We will continue to investigate though."

"To all those out there, who are not of my galaxy, I would like to extend an invitation. Two weeks from today, here on Coruscant, we will be starting a Galactic summit. We will make contact with all civilizations that attend and attempt to make at least temporary treaties with everyone. I understand that most of the civilizations of this galaxy will be unable to make it here on their own propulsion systems. If you contact us, we will arrange something. We look forward to meeting everyone"

"To all Republic ships, we are now sending out updated star charts. Please be patient. After you receive the new star charts please travel carefully. We have worked diligently with governments from around the galaxy to get these, but I suspect there are still small details left out. Merchant ships, I must also ask for your help. As I said earlier, we are preparing for a galactic summit. In order to get everyone here we need help. I ask that if requested to bring a representative ship to Coruscant that you respond. If possible, we may try to compensate you later. Thank you everyone for your patience. If we continue to work together everything should work out fine."

On Geonosis, Obi-Wan started to hear a lot of commotion. It wasn't the first time in the last day that he had heard a lot, but this time it seemed to involve more panic. After 5 minutes he was being led in chains to a ship. He then saw something he shouldn't have. Anakin should not be here. He was supposed to be protecting Padme, but it appeared she was here too. He was pushed over with them. "What are you doing here? You were supposed to forward my message to Coruscant."

"I did, and then we decided to try and rescue you."

They were being pushed on to a ship. It looked like they were the last ones getting on. "Some rescue. I suppose we'll talk about it later, do you know where we going?"

Before Anakin could answer someone else did. "You're not going anywhere. Leave them here." It was Count Dooku.

"What if they escape?" The Viceroy of the Trade Federation said a little nervously.

"There is no where for them to escape to." The three got pushed out and the ship started to take off. "Obi-Wan, you'll be needing this. I'd give Anakin his back, but it was destroyed." He threw the lightsaber to the ground.

"What is he giving this to us for?" Anakin said, as Obi-Wan destroyed his own chains. He then destroyed Anakin's and finally Padme's.

"It can't be a Republic attack." Padme said.

"No, it can't be. I don't know, but we need to get to the ship you came in."

Unknown to the trio, on the planet, 114 cubes had approached what the Borg considered a new planet. An assimilated transport had revealed this was a huge military base. Had it been a little further away from their space it would have been completely ignored. Unfortunately, for the Separatist and now for Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padme this planet was now in the heart of Borg territory. They rarely sent many ships much beyond their space, but they would always strike nearby planets in full force.

The Separatist had realized they probably weren't a match for a fleet that size. If they were, they would have to use everything against it and they couldn't afford that. The Borg ships had dropped out of warp just outside the system. The Separatists barely made it out before the cubes arrived at the planet. They had left behind, a lot of supplies, but they survived and their movement would as well.

Back on the ship that Anakin and Padme had come on, 2 droids sat. The little one was trying desperately to repair a small, but important console. R2-D2 and C-3P0 had returned just after someone (probably on Dooku's orders) had come and shot the navigational controls. The repair was a small one, but not one that could be waited on when the others arrived.

After arriving on the planet, C-3PO had been decapitated. His head had been put on a Trade Federation droid body and vice versa. After a few hours both of the Trade Federation droids pieces had malfunctioned. R2 put him back together and they had gone looking for Anakin and Padme (actually R2 looked and C-3PO followed). After attaching himself to a computer, R2 found out that they were already on their way back. R2 and C-3PO returned to the ship and ended up beating the others by about four minutes. C-3PO looked back outside just in time to see two Jedi and a senator returning to the ship. "Master, you've returned."

"Sorry no time to chat." Anakin and Obi-Wan rushed past C-3PO and up to R2-D2.

"Master, I'm afraid that R2 is still fixing the controls." As if waiting to contradict him, R2 got out of the way and beeped. "R2 says that he has just completed the repairs."

"Good timing. I think we've been here long enough." Padme turned to the two Jedi. "Can you find out why everyone is fleeing?" That certainly was the truth. On the way over they had seen what looked like a total evacuation. A lot of droids were being left behind, not to mention the factories and a lot of materials, but all the ships seemed to be leaving, and no one seemed to be staying behind.

"I'm detecting over a hundred ships. Each one of them is a cube, about 3 kilometers long. I don't see how we are going to get around all of these." At that moment the Borg started slicing though the planet, assuming its resources.

"Well we've got to go somewhere." Anakin took the controls. He plotted a coarse with the least amount of resistance. He could feel them with the Force. His skills as a Jedi were inferior to very few. When they reached the upper atmosphere the Borg tried to lock on to them for the first time. Anakin felt this and had to turn the ship into a tight turn to avoid it. This was difficult, the Borg could compensate almost immediately. That meant it had taken more than a small change in direction to avoid them. A few seconds later another cube tried the same thing. A little more out of the atmosphere made dodging a little easier this time. Anakin could sense what was doing this. In a way it was one entity, but in a more realistic way it was many. Something was taking away their free will though. The thought made Anakin sick, it also made him angry. He had to try very hard to keep that anger in check. That made the next dodge a lot more difficult. He still avoided it, but barely.

"Anakin you must keep your feelings in check."

Easier said then done, he thought, but still managed to do it. Two cubes simultaneously tried to grab them next. The area Anakin could maneuver to and avoid both tractor beams was very small. Everyone was knocked to the floor as he did move there. Anakin quickly got up. He had made it past the last of the ships, but surprisingly none were following. "I guess they finally decided they'd never get us."

"More likely they don't consider us a great enough prize to be worth anymore trouble," Obi-Wan contradicted. "Get us out of here."

Sisko stared at the view screen. The ship carrying them, the Quick, was about to stop. The distance they had traveled in such a short time still amazed him. He saw the white lines stop and a picture of Coruscant appear. The planet was nothing like anything he had ever seen. In addition to that thousands of ships were surrounding it and sensors detected hundreds more coming in at warp from all sides. As they got closer Sisko could see the ships in more detail. Some seemed almost monstrous. There were several designs that were over a kilometer long. The Quick let go of the Defiant and she moved in on her own power. Dax turned toward Sisko and said, "Captain, we are receiving a hail from the planet."

"On screen."

"Welcome to Coruscant. Please take a shuttle to the coordinates we are transmitting now. Send no more than 4 people. Your ship must remain at least two million kilometers from the planet at all times. Is this understood?"

"Yes. We'll be right down. Defiant out." "Chief, how many ships are there out there?"

"There is about 3000, not including the fighters or shuttles out there. About three quarters of the ships are Republic. Most of them are merchant. There appear to be 400 Republic warships and a lot of little fighter supports close to the planet."

Sisko, Dax, O'Brien, and Bashir were on the Federation shuttle about to land. Sisko was completely amazed. He had been expecting a highly populated planet, but this was far above his wildest expectations. The Federation still had a capital with oceans and forests and deserts. This planet, not only didn't have them, it had run out of ground millennia ago and had just kept buildings higher. The population of this planet probably rivaled the population of the entire Federation.

When they landed, several guards were waiting for them. One of them spoke, "Welcome to Coruscant. Captain Sisko if you'll follow me I'll lead you to the chancellor. The rest of you can follow Jason." He pointed to another guard. "He will take you to meet with a lot of the others we have encountered." Sisko, in all honesty, had expected to be brushed off. He had almost hoped for it. He would prefer the Dominion never hear about how this happened. That would be more likely if fewer people knew what had happened. Why didn't he want the Dominion knowing? If they knew this happened because they were going to attack, then wouldn't that mean they would be less likely to attack again. He supposed he really didn't want anyone to know. He didn't know what other species reaction to the wormhole would be. It was too late to hide it now though. His guards led him to a room on top of one of the highest buildings. The guard led him in and then left. There was a man in a chair there. The man walked up, and put his hand out. "Welcome to Coruscant, Captain Sisko."

As Sisko shook his hand, he all of a sudden felt cold. "A pleasure to meet you, chancellor. I have to tell you, I never expected to come straight here." There was something very wrong with this man. He didn't know what, but there was definitely something wrong. A word flashed into his mind, "counterpart". He didn't know what to make of it and quickly dismissed it.

"The Jedi felt your story was credible. They were reviewing all explanations for this event; we've had quite a few. They will talk to you about it in a little bit. They wanted to see you as soon as you arrived, but I decided we had better get in a little talk in first."

"Thank you, who are these Jedi?"

"That's a difficult question to answer. Have you ever heard of the Force?"

"No, can't say that I have."

"The Force surrounds all living things. Some people have the ability to use the Force, to do what might otherwise appear to be almost magical."

Palpatine could tell Sisko was unimpressed. Sisko tried to explain it a little. "They have strong mental powers. They can control things with their minds. We have come across species like that before."

He had no idea of he power he was talking about. "That really isn't that good a comparison." Sisko could almost feel a little rage, despite no change in voice. "You should meet them, perhaps then you will understand."

"I would like that."

"I glad you would. I believe you will be impressed. The enemy fleet that was coming through the wormhole, have they tried to reenter it?"

"Fortunately not. They didn't like what happened last time and I don't think they're willing to take another chance at it right now. Plus I'd guess they are more concerned about protecting the Gamma Quadrant right now."

"Are you convinced that they know the wormhole was the cause? From their perspective, could it have been just a symptom of what was happening to the rest of the galaxy?"

"No, you maybe right. They might have thought it was just bad timing going into the wormhole. Or at least, now they might." This could be a very big problem, if the Dominion only thought they were thrown out, because of the effects of the merging and the merging wasn't because they were there. Still, Sisko thought they would be more worried about other issues for a while and would ignore the Federation's part of space. He still didn't want them to know.

"Perhaps, it would be better to keep this quiet for the time being."

"Yes, I agree."

"Good, the Republic would like to make a few requests."

Sisko hadn't really expected this, but we was prepared. "Such as?"

"Thanks in large part to your Federation, we have accurate star maps. Your scientists seemed to put the most detail into their charts, which is essential for hyperspace."

"The Federation has always considered exploration one of its largest goals. We try hard in making sure we do it right, I'm happy they were so useful for you."

"Yes, I'm wondering if the Federation is equally careful in records relating to the different civilizations it has encountered."

"Yes, as explorers that is just as important as the information on stars and planets."

"Good, if possible, we would like the information you have on the different cultures you have come across. We are communicating now with hundreds of different worlds, and we would like to have some idea who we're dealing with. We've already been attacked in some areas."

"I hope the attacks haven't been too severe."

"Some have, I'm afraid. In what you call the Delta Quadrant we have had numerous attacks in a portion of our space." Sisko hadn't even thought about that yet, he had been so focused on the Dominion, but being across the whole galaxy, put Republic systems in Borg space.

"That would probably be the Borg. We should get you all the information we have on them immediately. I suggest you evacuate anyone in that area for at least the time being."

"I'm not sure that's possible, but we'll take that under advisement. What about information on the rest of the civilizations you've encountered."

"I talked to Starfleet Command before we left about that. They are willing to let me give you information on the planets and cultures of our galaxy, if you give us the same information from your galaxy."

"That should be acceptable."

"I believe we should give you all the information we can now on the Borg though, the problem is only going to get far worse."

"After you see the Jedi and we transmit our information to each other, I'll set up a meeting for you with our military leaders. Thank you for your help. If you have any requests during your stay, don't hesitate to ask."

"I won't. Again, thank you for seeing me."

"Thank you captain. The guard who led you in should lead you to the Jedi when you go out." Sisko left.

As Sisko went out the door Count Dooku reemerged as a hologram. "What are we going to do with the main base gone?"

"It doesn't matter. This new circumstance requires a new approach. We might be able to use the Borg to our advantage. This Federation though, they are the key."

"Did Sisko know what caused this?"

"Yes. I have a mission for you. Go to the planet identified as Bajor and find out all you can on these profits of his."

The next room Sisko walked into was circular and again on top of one of the higher buildings. He wasn't sure what to make of it. There was a circle of people, about half looked like humans. A black man spoke first. "Welcome Captain, I am Mace Windu and this is the Jedi Council."

"On behalf of the Federation, thank you for seeing me." He didn't know what else to say. This planet, its culture, still had him in awe.

The little green alien spoke next. "Powerful beings help influence the Force around you. Prophets you call them."

"The Bajorans do. I suppose I do too."

"Much planned for you, they do. Emissary you are."

"Yes, how do you know that?"

"Force reveals much, even when clouded by dark side."

"I still don't understand this force, what is it? And what is this Dark Side?"

"Soon will you understand. Now, what did these Profits say? Hum?"

"They said, they said it was too early, but they had to start the merging. I guess they meant of our galaxies."

"Perhaps, but much more could that still mean."

Sisko answered questions and received answers for almost another hour and then left. After he left the council continued. They had much to discuss.

Streams of ships had been entering Coruscant for hours. The last one to arrive, one that had managed to snag a ride onboard a ship heading here hadn't really wanted to stop. It would of preferred to keep going right back to Earth. It didn't have that option right now though so almost half way back home was pretty good. Like the Defiant's crew they were awe struck by the planet and the number of ships around it. It had been better than ten hours since the Defiant had made it here and the ship count had almost doubled. Merchant ships of all types were doing business with their counterparts. Fifteen Ferengi ships had just appeared out of hyperspace. No surprise they got that technology almost immediately.

Tuvok was the only one not smiling, "Captain, I am detecting one other Federation ship. It appears to be the USS Defiant."

"Open a channel."

"Channel Open."

A moment later a Klingon popped onto the screen. "I am Commander Worf of the Federation starship Defiant.

"I'm Captain Janeway of Voyager. I see Starfleet hasn't wasted any time getting a ship here. I must admit I thought we'd be the first. We were a little closer than any other Federation ship."

"I think I remember hearing about your ship. How did you get here?"

"We've been trapped in the Delta Quadrant the past four years. When this happened we tagged on to a ship heading here."

"It is an honor to meet you. It must have been difficult to survive so long, without any type of help. It takes true warriors to survive by themselves."

"Thank you commander. As hectic as things are around here, to us it just seems like more of the same. This event has really helped us out though. I wasn't expecting to see another Federation ship in the near future. Has Starfleet sent a team of ambassadors down there already?"

"No, the Enterprise will be here in a little less than two days with that. We're here because Captain Sisko may know something about what caused this."

"Really? Could you tell us."

"I don't think the captain wants us telling anybody right now, my apologies."

"That's alright. There are a lot of ships out there, Mr. Worf."

"Yes. A lot more are arriving all the time. It's mainly merchants. They come and see everything new arriving. They trade technology and supplies. There probably will be a lot more ships soon. Their government ordered all ships back another ten million kilometers from the planet just before you got here."

"So this is a big commotion, even to the ones who built that world."

"They're got over 900 large military vessels closer to the planet. Plus they have a few thousand small fighters there. That's more than double what it was when we arrived. I don't think they know what to expect. It is better to be prepared."

"I suppose it is. Do you know how many governments have representatives here now?"

"We're not sure. There are at least 900. More are arriving every minute. Right now, most come out of warp from nearby areas. We are in the center of the galaxy and stars are more numerous, there are a lot of different civilizations nearby in what was our galaxy. We are currently detecting hundreds coming in at warp and ships come out of hyperspace just as often."

Nine-hundred. Could they really be that insignificant? This was only a fraction of galaxy represented, at that. Even with the Federation's size they would only represent a small fraction of people here. Of coarse, the last few years away from home had taught her that the Federation really wasn't that big, but this just furthered that realization. "So what's been going on at home since we left?"

At this, Worf paused. "A lot."

Janeway had gone to meet Worf after their first conversation. She briefly saw Captain Sisko, but he looked exhausted from his day on the planet. She was now back on Voyager and had some news she'd rather not to deliver. She invited Chakotay to her ready room to tell first.

"You wanted to see me, captain?"

"Yes, I need to tell you about what's been going on back home since we left."

"I take it, the news isn't good."

"Not particularly, no. The events leading up to this are complicated, but the bottom line is the Federation and the Klingons have been fighting the Dominion for a few months now. The war has gone badly."

"How badly?"

"Pretty badly, but things have been getting better lately. There's more though. The Cardassians are members of the Dominion. They joined a few months before the war began."

This took a minute for Chakotay to take in. Then it hit him. "The Maqui, what's happened to them?"

Janeway gave a sympathetic look and continued, "After large amounts of Dominion forces were in the Alpha Quadrant, they did a huge three day offensive. The Maqui were almost completely knocked out. I'm sorry commander."

"Thank you. I think we should gather the former Maqui first before we tell the rest the crew."

Darth Sidious stood next the holonet, his hood on. He had been meditating in the little time he had free. He now realized sending Dooku had been a mistake. "What have you found on Bajor?"

"Their entire religion and much of their society is based on these Profits. What the Federation calls the wormhole is their home. The Bajorans term, the Celestial Temple, is more accurate. They may prove to be a very big threat if they get involved like they did by merging our galaxies in the first place."

"They won't get directly involved again. I have decided that you should return."

"But I can destroy them. These Profits have many enemies of their own. With a little time this can be accomplished."

"No. Return to Coruscant."

Dooku responded, "Very well," but both knew that he had no intention on returning. Dooku had found something that he thought he could challenge even Palpatine with.

Sisko could tell something wasn't right. He had to get back to Bajor and had to get there soon. He thought about asking Palpatine for a ship, but just as he knew he needed to get to Bajor, he knew he could not let Palpatine know. He guessed that the Prophets were letting him know these things. Still, what was he going to do. His ship couldn't go to hyperspace, and the Enterprise wouldn't be here for almost a day still. Then he thought of the Jedi. Palpatine would know if he went to them, but at least he wouldn't right away. Sisko beamed just outside the building with the Jedi Council, but before he went in, he saw two people walk out. One of them was probably close to 30, but the other couldn't be much older than 20, if that. Sisko felt drawn to that one. He saw the older one start to walk in one direction. The other started to walk in the other and then turned around. "Any reason your watching me?"

"I'm sorry. You don't, by chance, have a ship that could fly half way across the galaxy and a pilot for it, do you?"

"It's not a good idea to approach a Jedi when you don't really need one and they're busy. Who are you?" Anakin didn't show any sign of sensing anything, but he could. There was something important about this man and he really did need a ride.

"My name is Benjamin Sisko. I am a captain in the United Federation of Planets. I know how I sound, but I really need to get somewhere."

He really did, and this was important. Anakin could sense that. "All right. I'll have a ship ready in half an hour where do you need to go?"

"Back to Bajor."

Half an hour later they left. They left 23 hours before the Enterprise arrived.

Palpatine knew that Sisko was leaving. He even knew Anakin would take him. The easiest way to stop this would be to stop Anakin, but he didn't want to go there just yet. He could ask Anakin to go on an important mission, but he wasn't sure he would go. Anakin trusted him and everything would probably still work out, but if he interfered in Sisko returning, the Profits might interfere more to get him back. He doubted it, but he couldn't see for sure. Still, he couldn't risk loosing Anakin. The trip itself wasn't going to be a problem; he knew that, but once they got there he was almost blind. He couldn't see what would happen. He would have to make something happen to force Anakin to come back. Then he saw the path. Yes, it would start everything. He left his office. He needed to send out a signal to the Delta Quadrant.

Picard had started to have a headache about an hour before they arrived. It wasn't until they exited hyperspace that he realized why. "Oh no. They're coming here."

Data turned around, "Who's coming, Captain?"

"Data send a signal to Coruscant, priority one"

Less than two minutes later he had a reply. "This is Captain Salons, Captain Picard, this signal is reserved for the most extreme emergencies. Are you sure this is what you want? The Republic will take trivial matters or jokes very seriously, and it will reflect very badly on your people."

Picard ignored this, "Captain, there is no time to explain how I know this, but a hostile force is heading for this planet."

"Are you sure Captain?" He didn't looked at all convinced.

"Yes, trust me, I've dealt with them before."

"Who are they?"

"The Borg."

Anakin and Sisko were about an hour outside of the Bajoran system. Most of the trip had been in silence, they both had been thinking. "Mind telling me exactly where we're going?"

"I'll tell you what I know. There is a wormhole close to Bajor. It leads to the Gamma Quadrant of our galaxy. That is well out of reach for our starships. Although, I suppose it won't be for much longer. That is the least significant part of it though. When we discovered the wormhole, over 5 years ago, we encountered an alien species that in some way dells in the wormhole, created it in fact. The Bajorans have their entire religion based around them. They call them, 'The Profits.' The Profits have sent the Bajorans orbs, which have revealed parts of the future, and have had some other effects as well. After we discovered the wormhole, the 'Celestial Temple' as the Bajorans call it, I was contacted by the Profits. I became the Emissary. Since then they have become more and more involved in what goes on with my life. I don't know how, but I know now that I must return to Bajor. I must go to the Fire Caves."

Anakin couldn't doubt any of this. Still, it didn't seem to make sense. All his training in the Force could not explain what he was being told. Still the Force did tell him that this man was telling the truth. "Do you know what you must do there?"

Sisko shook his head. "No, I'll know when I get there though. I can tell something else though."

"What's that?"

"I wasn't supposed to be doing this yet. The Profits expected me to have more time."

"Maybe that's why I'm here."

"Maybe." Sisko somehow doubted that, but said nothing. There was silence for a few seconds and then Sisko asked, "Who are you?"

"My name is Anakin Skywalker. I'm originally from a dessert rim world known as Tatooine. I'm supposed to be the one who can bring bounce to the Force."

"Why is that?"

Under most circumstances Anakin would never say this, but this wasn't most circumstances. "I have no father. I was conceived by the Force."

Anakin expected this to be countered saying it wasn't possible, but Sisko seemed to be lost in thought after that last statement.

Picard had talked to at least seven high ranking military officials of the Republic in the last hour. He thought he had finally convinced them they had a real threat coming. This time he got Palpatine on. "Captain, I understand that you have some information on an attack that will occur here shortly."

"Yes. And we must coordinate a defense before they get here. They almost never plan to engage unless they have a high probability of success."

"How long do you think we have?"

"An hour, maybe two, I can't guarantee even a few more minutes though. We should start coordinating with all the other ships here. If we work together we may have a chance of winning."

"Thank you captain, but this will be an attack on the Republic and we will handle it. I would appreciate it however if you will talk to our ship and fleet commanders. They'll need to know everything they can about this enemy."

"I understand you wanting to handle this, but there are thousands of ships out there that can help. You may need everyone of them."

"Captain, most of those ships will not be willing to fight an enemy they know nothing about, for a Republic they know almost nothing about. Many of them are from civilizations that have few ships to begin with. Almost all have representatives that our government is planning on contacting, and they are supposed to be in Republic care while they are here. We could make a lot of enemies if those ships don't return. Besides, if the Borg will bring what they think they need to win then they probably will be outmatched. We traded information on species and cultures with your Defiant when they arrived. Your information shows they are in the Delta Quadrant. If they have attained information on our standard defense here, then they will be greatly surprised when they get here. We have over 1500 capital ships here now. That doesn't include our smaller vessels or the almost limitless amount of fighters."

That was impressive and Picard knew that Palpatine had a point. Still he knew that when fighting the Borg, take every advantage. "At the very least, the Enterprise will be in the battle."

"We thank you captain."

Picard left the Enterprise and spent the next fifty-eight minutes on the Republic flagship giving as much important detail about the Borg as he could. He then returned to the Enterprise. The Enterprise had dropped off all its ambassadors during his absence. A few were not too happy about his decision to commit the Enterprise (a few doubted the Borg were coming at all).

Picard hadn't liked the way the meeting had gone. He could tell many of the people there, were there for political reasons and few others. They asked a lot of repetitive questions, and he knew at least half believed there wasn't anything coming. Most of the others hadn't understood what he meant when he told them, that they couldn't treat this like a standard attack. What might be enough for one cube at the beginning of the battle might not end up being near enough for one at the end. If they divided their forces too much, the Borg might have ships repairing at a rate fast enough to negate a lot of the damage they were causing.

How many ships were coming? That was an important question. The Federation had never really had to completely destroy a cube the way the Republic would need to today. The first cube had been destroyed by putting in a fatal order into the cube through him (as Locutus). On the second one, he had detected their weak spot. He was pretty sure they had cut him off from that information. He knew now that they had quite a few ships coming, but not a number they would use to attack a planet close to their space. They had brought what they thought would be enough. Still, how many did they think they would need? They never thought they needed more than one against Earth and had never brought more. Hopefully all those extra Republic ships would make a difference.

Just as Picard entered the bridge, the red alert signal started to sound. "How many?"

The new chief of security, Lt. Commander Slaughter, answered, "43 sir. They exited hyperspace on the far side of the system. They are breaking up their formation somewhat, taking slightly different courses to the planet."

The whole bridge stared at the view screen awestruck. Riker said, "I didn't think they'd ever send that many to one place. Raise shields, load torpedoes, and ready phasers."

No one doubted that Picard was right about someone coming now. The Borg opened a channel, it was the first most had ever heard of the Borg. "We are the Borg, lower your shields and surrender your vessels. Your cultural and biological distinctiveness will be added to our own. Resistance is Futile."

Anakin was setting the vessel down just outside the Fire Caves when he realized something bad was happening at Coruscant. He searched harder and saw it was under attack. Fortunately for Sisko, the Bajorans had let them land as soon as they realized he was on board, because Anakin wouldn't have waited to drop him off otherwise. As it was, they were down anyway. "Sorry I can't come with you. I need to back to Coruscant now"

Sisko stepped out. "I know. Get back to your wife."

Anakin, despite his urgency to lift off, was stunned for a moment. He had married Padme just after they got off Geonosis. How did he know? Well, not much made sense with this guy anyway. He pushed a few controls and set off. Sisko turned and entered the fire caves.

Picard: "Data, how is the Republic dispatching their ships?"

Data: "They are dividing themselves pretty evenly. There are about 30 ships going against each cube. The others seem to be staying closer to the planet. Some compensations appear to have been made for groups with extra or smaller amounts of firepower."

"They didn't listen." Picard signed. "Take us in. Fire at will."

The ships of the Republic engaged the enemy as far away from the planet as they could. When they had detected the enemy, they had moved into intercept courses. They did not want the ships close enough to directly attack the planet or use those transporters of theirs. To the newly appointed Grand Admiral in charge, Picard had seemed like a very unmilitaristic man. He was probably a diplomat or a scientist trying to plan military strategy. Maybe for the Federation that worked, but it wouldn't for the Republic.

Picard had suggested that the fleet throw as much of its firepower as it reasonably could into one cube at a time. He knew that, with this many ships, the fleet couldn't follow that plan completely, but he had strongly advised that they follow that reasoning as much as possible.

He also had advised that they make the battle as quick as possible. Why Picard had said that, wasn't completely clear to this commander, but he thought that was better advise than taking on a cube at time.

For most of its existence, the Republic had the ability to quickly develop strong new weapons and ship designs. Unfortunately, that wouldn't do any good in this battle. Like the Dominion found out when it started to fight the Federation, being millennia older might lead to many advantages, but they weren't always as great as you might think. The Republic, had little reason to develop new weapon technologies over the past millennia and it was showing in this battle. There were definitely new technologies that emerged regardless, but it had been a long time since there had been any significant changes in the military fleets. Actually, more had changed in the past 5 years (due to a slight worry about Separatists) than in almost the past 500 years.

The first waves of Republic ships did pretty well. Despite information from earlier assimilated ships, the Borg were not ready for the full force of the Republic guns. The first couple cubes were destroyed pretty quickly. However after that, things started to go in a downward spiral. These cubes had more weapon points than the ones Picard had explained. Maybe they had always had them, but just didn't feel they needed them against the Federation. Regardless, they skipped past the Republic shields half the time and were causing direct damage to ships.

Most of the Republic ships in this battle had never experienced more than runs against pirates. Some of the crews had received very good training, but those were in the minority. On some ships all order was completely lost. As the chaos continued to grow, fighters were ordered to charge cubes in the same area that capital ships were firing. The results were obviously fatal for the pilots.

The Enterprise released another wave of quantums and saw another Republic ship go down. What were they doing, Picard thought. Palpatine had been completely right, shockingly the tremendous reinforcements Coruscant had received was enough to handle the Borg. This amazed Picard, but this fleet was organized in one of the least effective ways he had ever seen. He was almost certain now, that the Republic would win, but the losses might be 10 times what they needed to be. The ship they had moved to concentrate on (Voyager and the Defiant had followed as well) was the one that seemed like it had the most disorganized fight going on. The grand admirals ship was on almost the opposite end of the battlefield. As Picard watched a wave of fighters get destroyed by their own ships he made a decision that would probably get him in trouble, but he couldn't let this go on any longer. "Patch me to all the ships that are engaging this cube."

"Ai Sir, your on."

"This is Captain Picard of the Enterprise. All fighters engage on sides 2 and 3. All other ships proceed to sides 1 and 4. If there isn't room for you, get to side 5. All ships, try and coordinate your ships firing at these coordinates, I'm sending now." The Republic had labeled sides on each cube automatically as the Borg had entered the system, it had been one of the few smart things they'd done.

"Sir, are those points critical systems?"

"I doubt it Data, but if we can cause damage all in one area, they aren't going to be able to clear it up so fast and maybe we can weaken their defenses a little faster."

Picard was right, the cube could not keep repairs up at the rate damage was being caused. A maneuverability advantage was lost to the Republic, but there had been almost no advantage anyway due to the large number of ships fighting in such a small area around a single cube. After another minute the cube was gone and before the fleet could break up and randomly choose new cubes, Picard ordered them all on to the next one.

The Borg knew the probability of their winning was now less than 1%. The communication they had been sent suggested that there were only around 500 ships and a small compliment of fighters. This was close enough, to what assimilated records had shown about the typical defenses of the planet, that the Borg had believed it. They had planned accordingly. The planet had interested them from when they first found out about it, but it was the signal from the planet itself, asking them to come and saying that they would join without the Borg having to waste their resources forcing assimilation, that had made the use of the cubes now the best perceived coarse of action. Now they were going to lose all of their ships though. They would have to use a different method to get to the planet. Before the last few cubes were destroyed the Borg activated their transporters.

There was loud cheer on the Enterprise as the last of the cubes exploded. His security chief looked down at tactical station and then at Picard. "Sir, the Grand Admiral would like to speak you."

"On Screen."

The Grand Admiral was clearly furious. "Captain, I have just received word that you gave orders to Republic forces during the battle."

"That is correct Grand Admiral."

"That is highly unacceptable and will be regarded very badly by my superiors. Thank you for the warning you gave us, but I don't want to ever hear of you ordering the Republic again. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Grand Admiral." It didn't do any good to fight with men like this; it would only make things worse. "You will be checking all of your ships for possible Borg won't you?"

"I see no reason to. They were clearly after the planet and clearly eliminated."

"If you don't search there is a good chance the Borg will end up on Coruscant."

"If there are any, our soldiers will handle them on their own thank you."

With that the channel died. "Try to open a channel with Chancellor Palpatine."

It took ten minutes to get hold of Palpatine and by then several shuttles had landed.

The chancellor had a smile on his face and said, "Captain Picard, I'm glad you made it threw the battle. I trust your ship is in good condition still."

"Yes chancellor, but I have another possible problem to report."

"I see. What is it?"

"The Borg could have easily transported on board one or more of your ships at the end of the last battle. Many ships had their shields down and your shields seemed at least partially ineffective to the Borg. Since then many ships have sent shuttles down to the planet."

"I wouldn't consider a few shuttles awkward, but you may be right. From what I've read even a few Borg could turn into a major problem. I will take appropriate steps. Why didn't you contact the Grand Admiral?"

"I tried, he wouldn't listen."

"He also criticized your intervention in a fleet that was doing badly. Thank you Captain for your bravery and your information. The entire Republic thanks you. Without you, Coruscant may not have been saved, and you may have just saved it again."

"Anytime Chancellor."

"You may also have done us another great service by exposing a problem in our chain of command. Thank you again, now I'll get started."

Sisko continued through the Fire Caves. He could tell he was falling further behind the man he was following. A little late wouldn't make any difference, but being anymore than that could be a very big problem. He was running out of energy, but he picked up the pace all the same. He wished he'd gone back to DS9. From there he could have taken a roundabout and transported through most of the distance. Maybe this was how it was supposed to be though. Maybe he was getting prepared for something.

The Borg had transported to three different ships. One ship had had extreme damage, and the Borg had managed to take control of most major systems immediately. They sealed all escape areas and communications. From there, they started to assimilate the crew.

The second ship had been almost as bad. Unfortunately for the Borg, the area they transported to was sealed off seconds later as life support power was diverted to other areas. The area had been exposed to space and without life support, the area became cold and lost its air fast. The Borg died in the corridor.

The third ship the Borg beamed to was largely intact and had only lost shields to a portion of itself. It was deemed that if they tried to take control there was a 90% chance the ship would be destroyed by surrounding ships or a self destruct would be activated or that they would be destroyed by the crew. The Borg there proceeded to a ship they could secure and use to land on the planet. When they got to the hanger bay, one shuttle was preparing to leave. The Borg assimilated the people in the shuttle and around it and took off.

As fate would have it that shuttle had been ordered to bring scientist back down to Coruscant to examine the Borg technology. When the planet ordered the ship into a position to land, the Borg had no reason not to follow the instructions. This was after all a clear flight path that made the most sense to land on.

When the shuttle landed, two very shocked security guards tried to react. One got out two blasts at the Borg, before he was picked up and assimilation tubes pressed into him. Neither shot penetrated the Borg force field. The Borg had encountered too many of these identical weapons in the Delta Quadrant (by now several worlds full of them) and no modifications had been made. The other called in an emergency before being assimilated as well.

At about the same time that emergency was being called in, the ship the Borg had adducted the shuttle from, was reporting there had been Borg onboard. A minute later Palpatine spoke to Picard.

The Borg on the planet proceeded into the building they had just landed on. It's top floors were the corporate headquarters for a medium sized company that mined for resources on inner outer rim planets. The Borg number had increased from 15 to 17 (on the first ship they beamed to, there were over 100 Borg, but there had been less time and a smaller opportunity on the ship they had beamed to). They assimilated many of the people there (although many escaped) and the computers. They started to set up a hive.

After receiving word (although he already knew), that the Borg were taking control of a building, Palpatine asked the Jedi to deal with the problem. He didn't do as others might and blow up the building. That would cause questions afterward, about killing civilians. Also, he might have a chance to pull off a little more if he was lucky. There was a small possibility that he might be able to kill a Jedi in the next wave of Borg that he knew was coming. If he concentrated at the right time, maybe he could help the Borg fight a little better against some random young Jedi. It would be a small accomplishment, but every Jedi gone was one less to face later. Also, he sensed there was something else that might accomplish. He wasn't sure what yet though.

More than a hundred Jedi entered shuttles that would take them half way around the planet to get to the Borg location. It took a few minutes to safely get there. The group was led by Mace Windu, for some reason Yoda had stayed behind.

They exited their shuttles and all ignited their lightsabers, slowly making their way for the building.

Mace Windu: "Hopefully they haven't gone to the neighboring buildings."

Obi-Wan: "I don't think they have. Hopefully by the time they're ready the buildings will have been evacuated."

Mace Windu: "Let's stop them before it gets that far."

Obi-Wan: "I think most of them are still on the upper levels. I would say the mid two hundreds."

Mace Windu: "Yes, that feels right to me too. We'll divide up. A third will stay outside and prevent any Borg from leaving. Keep your minds opened. If any leave at the mid levels, you might need to shoot. One group in that should get into a shuttle and patrol the area. Another third will go up the elevator to floor 200. If they've deactivated the elevator, take the stairs. Go up the steps from there until you start to come across Borg. The rest of us will take a few shuttles to the roof and come down."

There was little question which of these jobs was the most difficult. Preventing the Borg from leaving was an important task, but not a difficult one. The other two groups would squeeze the Borg together. However, since the 3rd group was going straight to the roof, they would run across Borg first. It might take the 2nd group an extra 30 floors of climbing before they reached any Borg. No one complained though or questioned the orders.

Mace Windu and Obi-Wan both took shuttles to the roof. Both also wondered something. They both had the feeling that the Borg could be a major threat now, but both felt something wasn't quite as it should be. Other than Yoda though they were the only ones to feel any of this. The Dark Side was very busy clouding over the truth.

The shuttles heading toward the roof landed. There were no longer any Borg on the roof, but Windu quickly went into the shuttle the Borg had taken and destroyed the hyperdrive. On the next floor they found that the Borg had been to work and that area was starting to look more like a Borg structure than the building it had been designed for. Concerned for the individuals he felt trapped inside the Borg, Windu said, "Knock them out or paralyze them if you can. They are Borg, not individuals, at least not anymore, but we may be able to save some of them." Three Borg started to approach the Jedi and were quickly dealt with.

On the next two floors the Jedi encountered another 30 Borg. Most of them didn't even really look like Borg yet. They had obviously been assimilated, but they didn't have any of the gear on. The presence of the Borg could be sensed though.

The Borg who had managed to acquire a whole ship were now finishing installing transporters. They were made quickly and wouldn't be as efficient as standard transporters, but were the best the Borg could do with the time and resources. They followed another ship that was preparing to land and got close to the planet. They quickly started receiving warnings about leaving or being destroyed, but that was irrelevant. They reached the point where they could transport to their destination and beamed down. They beamed right into the Galactic Senate.

The Senate was not currently in session. Most Senators were in the building though. They were either monitoring the current situation or reviewing the battle. Another session was scheduled to begin in an hour. The plans for evacuation, which had been reviewed in case the Borg succeeded in battle were now washing away from the Senators minds as they returned to their offices and left the area closest to their emergency escape ships. If Picard's warning about an upcoming battle had been taken seriously, the Senate might have been evacuated before the battle. As it stood though most Senators had never even heard of his warning.

Anakin was in his shuttle still a long way away from Coruscant, but he could see what was happening as clearly as if he were there. He couldn't explain his sudden spark in awareness, but he wished he couldn't see this. There was nothing he could do. He would make those Borg pay. By the time he got there though they would all be gone. He needed to get there and he needed to get there now. Then he heard a flash behind him.

"You really should give the Borg a chance. At least their emotions are bit more predictable."

"Who are you?" This creature seemed to exist outside of the Force. Anakin could tell nothing about him, but he seemed extremely powerful.

The voice was a mocking hurt, "Here I am considering offering you something I never even was willing to give to Janeway and you yell at me. Maybe I should just leave."

"You still didn't answer my question, what are you offering?" If this could help him get to Coruscant faster or prevent what he saw happening, he would do anything. Anakin thought that and meant it quite literally.

The man smiled. "My name is Q and I'm offering to take you were you want to go."

"You'll take my ship back to Coruscant?"

"If you want to bother with your ship sure. If not I'll willing to take you as far as just outside the Galactic Senate."

"What is the catch."

"Nothing, just tell Picard that I am giving him a little hand, but the trial is still going on."

"All right. Who's he?"

"Oh, you'll see him soon enough. While you're at it tell Janeway I said hi. I suppose it's to late for you to tell Sisko I hope he falls on a rock."

"Suppose so."

"Well maybe not, if you see him tell him."

"Sure. Can we go now."

"Sure thing." And in a flash of bright light they both disappeared.

Anakin appeared just outside the Senate just as Q said he would and he rushed into it. An alarm was going off as he came in. The only immediate sign of the Borg were the people rushing out of the building. Few Senators though, most of them were in the upper levels. Anakin rushed toward the elevator. It opened and a group of Senators came pouring out. Anakin got on and sent it up. He hadn't seen the guards, they must have left the entrance to try and get rid of the Borg. He was half way to where he was heading, three quarters the way, and then it stopped. The power had been cut. The Borg had just taken over the power controls for the building and were now diverting power only to where they thought they needed it.

Anakin opened the door with the force and climbed onto the next floor. He rushed to the stairs. He used the force to lift himself past the hordes of people coming down and up one floor after another. He grabbed the railing on each floor and propelled himself to the next floor. He knew that below him many people were rushing right into a Borg position, but right now he didn't care. He had to keep going before it was too late.

Then it hit him. Some of what he had feared was already happening. It wasn't too late though; he could still save her life. He had to hurry. As he finally reached the 453rd floor he could tell he was in the center of the Borg's new hive. The anger flowed within him. He tried to push it back, but he couldn't. He ripped right through one of them and approached another. He easily killed it before it had a chance to even try to hurt him.

He kept going. He could now hear another lightsaber down the hall. It was distant though. Anakin went past another 15 Borg and then he saw it. There was a newly assimilated Borg. This was one of the few that had actually got the full Borg outfit. Just in front of him stood the assimilated form of Padme. Another Jedi was almost up to them now. Ten Borg were going at him almost all together. They weren't like the others though; these were being helped by something, by what Anakin didn't know. It felt like the Force though. Was that possible?

The Jedi also seemed to be fighting at something else. The Jedi, whom Anakin had never seen, sliced through two Borg just as another hit him. His lightsabor went flying. It went flying just as Anakin had foreseen. It was heading straight at Padme. Anakin used the Force and barely managed to push the lightsabor away before it hit her, dead in the face.

The Borg were reaching for the downed Jedi now. He still seemed to be fighting at some unseen evil and these remaining 8 Borg seemed to be acting extremely quickly. Anakin was furious at this Jedi, but he was still angrier with the Borg. He used the Force to take the other lightsabor and rushed. The Borg turned. As they saw him, they seemed to return to the every day variety Borg. Anakin easily cut the first two heads off. He dogged ones attempt to assimilate him cut this one, a former maintenance officer onboard the Republic ship Unity, in the middle. He jumped, avoiding two more and cut both of heads off. He then cut the arm off one, before it could get close to his neck and pushed the lightsaber straight through the middle. He then threw the other fallen Jedi's lightsabor at one of the two remaining Borg and pushed his through the last one.

Anakin ignored the other Jedi, who was now getting up, if Anakin had said anything he knew he'd kill him. It took all Anacin's effort not to do that anyway. He went to Padme. She was now trying to assimilate him herself. He grabbed her and she tried to get her hand to his neck. He kept it out of reach of his whole body. It wasn't easy. In his current state, it was taking all his concentration to counter the new strength she had.

Now Anakin had a problem, how was he going to get out. He couldn't go down the stairs. He couldn't keep Padme safe and fight the Borg. Going up he had the same problem. Getting Padme to a group of Jedi, wouldn't be easy. Almost all the Jedi on Coruscant had gone to take out the first group of Borg. That had been extreme overkill, but they hadn't known there would be a second group. Yoda only had the slightest notion that there might more trouble, and that was why he had stayed behind. Yoda had sent the few extras they had left to the Senate, but they were all over the building now, not concentrated in a group he could get to.

"Thank you. That bunch must have been something special. I felt the Dark Side in them. What are you holding her for? Paralyze her or knock her out real well and we'll save her later if we can."

"Get out of here!"

The Jedi looked confused for a moment, but sensing Anakin's feelings decided it would be better to listen for now.

A second later Anakin felt himself dissolve. Padme disappeared from his sight and a small room appeared in her place. He realized he was on a ship. Padme wasn't with him. There were others standing on the other platforms beside him. There was a man behind a console and several people by the door. They looked like security. The one in front spoke. "Welcome to the USS Defiant. We are currently helping to evacuate the areas of the Galactic Senate that are full of Borg. Please follow these two so we can beam-up more people." He gestured to two of the other security officers.

Anakin went right next to the transporter officer. "The person I was with, you have to transport her here. She is extremely important."

"Was she assimilated?"

"Yes, but that doesn't matter. I'll prevent her from harming anyone."

This didn't shock the ensign who had been speaking. They were beaming people out from the most heavily Borg populated areas. He had bet, that someone probably would ask something like this. Maybe, the person was a friend who had just been assimilated. Still, he knew the right answer to this. "I'm sorry I can not do that."

"Look I don't have time to argue with you." Anakin reactivated his lightsabor. He put it next to the transporter chief's head. "I'm a Jedi, I can secure her, trust me."

Now the ensign was shocked. "That's impossible, we are avoiding the ones the Jedi sent in. We got sent their signatures to avoid them."

"I wasn't with them. You have five seconds before I kill you, and trust me I can kill you all." He could feel the Dark Side pushing now. He also realized something else was pushing back. Something he had never felt before though. It had been pushing on the planet too. He realized that now, but what was it? He suspected it might have been the only thing that prevented him from joining the Dark Side after seeing Padme.

Then one of the senators who had been beamed up beside Anakin spoke up. "Yes that is a Jedi, it is Palatine's favorite. He is Anakin Skywalker."

"Time's almost up."

Seeing no alternative the security officer spoke up. "All right. Transporter Room to Bride, we are going to beam one Borg to the brig on a request from a Jedi."

"Very well, make sure there are guards there." Worf didn't like what he was hearing, but there had to be some reason for this. Plus he had heard near panic in the transporter chief's voice.

The transporter chief pushed a few buttons and said, "There, she's on board."

"Thank you." Anakin finally calmed a bit.

Everyone who had been transported was being sent to one room. The ship seemed small and the room was almost at its limits. Anakin asked to be taken to Padme. The chief guard sighed and said, "Yes, but you are going to have to give me that weapon of yours for a while."

"I could kill everyone in here with this if you say no." Whatever had been pushing back against the Dark Side was gone now. Maybe it thought he could avoid it on his own, or maybe it had other things to worry about.

"Maybe you can, but I'm not willing to let you bring that into a room we are trying to hold a Borg in."

"All right, but I want it back."

Anakin sat in the brig just outside her cell for the next hour until Worf came down.

Palpatine thought the Borg operation had been a total success. He had only killed one Jedi, but there had been other major accomplishments. He had killed the Jedi who Anakin had met. Palpatine didn't want the Counsel getting overly worried about Anakin just yet. Anakin was well on his way to the Dark Side and would be ready soon, but it wasn't quite the time. Fortunately for Palpatine, the Jedi Anakin had met was a new one and at the bottom of the barrel in skills (although of coarse, still very good). Palpatine took control of six Borg a little farther down the hall from where he left Anakin, and had managed to take out the solo Jedi. This had been a risk since he had to focus so much on controlling the Borg, that if a one of a handful of Jedi had been meditating on who the sith master was, Palpatine's secret probably would have been lost. Yoda was the biggest threat. With the first eight Borg, Palpatine had merely sped the Borg up, he hadn't actually taken control of them. Fortunately, by the time, Palpatine was concentrating on the lone Jedi, Yoda was in the fight and not in meditation.

The fact that he had almost completely hidden the second attack, was another major accomplishment. He had managed to completely hide the Borg's second assault from most of the Jedi. Anakin had known, but Anakin would ultimately be with him. Obi-Wan and Mace Windu would be threats, but they would be ones he could deal with. Yoda was of coarse a problem, but he would deal with him in time too.

The Senate would now jump on the opportunity to take the clone army and he would be granted whatever power he wished. He could justify however much reorganization in the military he wanted, by saying the old system had completely failed to produce what the Republic needed. After how miserably it had failed today, no one could argue. The fact that he had arranged it so the most incompetent commanders were in the battle was something almost no one could find out. The Federation was even coming into the position he needed them. He would need them, first against the Borg, and then for something else.

All was going to plan in that area. The plan had come quickly, but he thought success would come out of it. He would need to be careful, a small mistake against the Borg could be very deadly, but he was sure he knew the path.

There were two things still troubling him though. One was why hadn't Anakin turned in the Senate. It was better that he didn't just yet, but still that event should have been enough to bring him to the Dark Side. Something had strengthened him there. Would that something help him again? Palpatine really wasn't certain. He did think he knew what helped Anakin though. The Profits had, of coarse. That brought about his second troubling thought. What was happening on Bajor? He knew that Sisko must somehow succeed and defeat his former apprentice. He wasn't sure defeat for Sisko was possible. He still couldn't see what was happening there though or for what reason and this concerned him greatly. Palpatine knew that something was about to be accomplished from the Profits standpoint. What concerned Palpatine was that he couldn't see what it was.

Worf hadn't completely understood why Anakin had brought the Borg onto the ship. Anakin said she was someone important. She was an important senator. Worf had thought there had been more to it than that, but he hadn't pressed it. He explained the Defiant didn't have much of a sickbay, but that the Enterprise probably could handle removing the Borg implants. "I'll contact Captain Picard and have both of you sent there. Is that all right?"

"Yes. Did you say Picard?"

"Yes," Worf was a little confused. "He was my former captain. He is the best in the Federation."

"What about a Captain Janeway?"

"She is Captain of the Starship Voyager. It had been missing for years, but now is here in this system. How do you know all this?"

"I'll have to ask Captain Picard about that. Thank you."

"Your welcome. I hope she is ok."

"I do too."

Sisko was finally approaching the end of his journey. The other man, the man in black, should be just in front of him. He turned the corner and saw him. There was fire all through the great opening in front of him. The man was throwing another into the fire. "And the sacrifice is complete, although I'm not sure it was necessary. Who has followed me?" He was also holding a book.

"I have. The Emissary of the Profits."

"Oh, yes, of coarse." The man looked crazy with the power he now possessed. The Separatists barely would have recognized him. Unknown to Sisko, the book Dooku was holding wasn't meant to be read by him. Using the Force, he had managed to negate most of the negative effects, but it had driven him half mad, and the rest of his journey, leading up until now, had driven most of the rest of him mad.

"You are no match for me. You were no match for me before and now I'm stronger than anyone. The Pah-wraiths have filled my power. Even Sidious is nothing compared to me. I will consume all. I will rule all."

"You just seem like another power hungry villain to me." Something came to his head. The book. The book was the key.

"Am I. Let's see how right you are about the power. I have seen what could have happened. A man named Dukat would have been here. Do you know him?"

"He is a madman. I doubt you are any better." Sisko tried to charge and push him into the fire, but Dooku pushed him to the group with either the Force or his newfound power.

"I'm not sure just how that ended, but you somehow won that battle. Before you did though he had you bow. I think I'll still have you do you that too. Now bow!"

Sisko tried not to, but he was being pushed down. "You are pathetic!" He needed to distract him.

"Am I. Well maybe we should end this then."

He loved this new power. That was how he would distract him. "Who is Sidious? What makes him so powerful? I doubt you can take him."

"Nothing compared to him." He laughed. "He was my master, but now he will see what true power is. The Pah-wraiths are stronger than my former master. The Pah-wraiths won't waste time conquering like he would, they will simply consume. We will see who will bow to who."

Sisko could tell Dooku was loosening his concentration on him. "What power? What power do you have that can compare to his?"

"What power? What power! I can control galaxies now. Watch this!" Dooku turned to the fire.

It was now or never. Sisko used all his strength and pushed himself into a jump. The man turned just in time to see him, but not in enough time to react. The Force should have prepared him, but he was so confident in his powers that he didn't pay a bit of attention to any warnings until it was too late.

They both fell through the fires and the Paw-wraths were forced to take Dooku. The Profits willingly took Sisko. His work was far from over.

The operation was almost complete. Anakin hadn't left Padme's side, despite Dr. Crusher's request that he leave. She had finally consented to him staying as long as he was far enough away from the patient so as not to interfere with the operation. Crusher had been requested to go down to the planet to help them unassimilate those the Jedi hadn't killed. Few had more knowledge than her on the procedure, and even if the Republic had some pretty advanced technology, they never had done anything like this before. Fortunately, a doctor from Voyager had somehow gained experience and was now talking to doctors on Coruscant. Despite an urgent feeling to get down there she didn't rush this, she wasn't going to loose a patient, because she was in a hurry.

Picard walked in. "How is she doing?"

"Just fine, I think that we'll be done shortly."

"Good. They really want you down there."

Anakin: "Are you Captain Picard?"

Picard: "Yes. You are the Jedi who came with this Borg right?"

Anakin: "Yes. But don't call her that."

Picard: "I'm sorry. You're right."

Anakin: "You've been assimilated?"

Picard was silent for a moment then spoke. "Yes. As far as I know, I'm the only person from the Federation ever to be unassimilated."

Anakin: "You were someone important to them, weren't you?"

Picard: "Yes, but how did you know that?"

Anakin: "I'm not even sure. By the way Q said to say that he is giving you a little hand, but the trial is still going on."

Picard: "I can see we have a lot to talk about."

Over the next two weeks Padme slowly recovered and order started to reemerge on Coruscant. The guard had been increased to 4000 capital ships. The fighter count once again rose to very high levels. Many other systems and whole sectors argued that they were being left defenseless, but with better than 800 capital ships already lost, 35 Senators dead, and another 300 recovering after they had intentionally been paralyzed or made unconscious (fortunately the combination of medicines was proving beneficial for them), no chances were being taken on Coruscant. The Senate had voted to take the clone army and order as many more as possible. Palpatine was given full authority to do whatever he wanted to do with the military. He made what would normally have been several controversial decisions. He placed new power in men who most had never heard of and took it from even very respected generals. He placed some very good fleets in dangerous places. The Borg continued to strike at their Delta Quadrant planets, but the Republic wasn't ready to go toe to toe against them just yet. There was now a mass exodus of people leaving planets in or near Borg space.

The Galactic Summit the Senate had prepared for was now ready to start. Palpatine started by addressing the crowd. "Thank you everyone for being here. It is my pleasure to welcome you all to Coruscant and into the heart of the Republic. We invited you here hoping our galaxies could come to peaceful relations. We still hope that is true. Everyone's decision to come is a good start. Over the next few weeks, we will be trying to work out at least tentative treaties with all of you and permanent ones with as many as possible."

"I wish that I could say this meeting was happening on the best of circumstances. Unfortunately, it isn't. We are now one galaxy. We will no longer be two that share the same space, but we must be one. I hope everyone here agrees with that. Being part of the same galaxy means that we must share our responsibilities and our rewards. Right now there is a great threat to all of us. Many of you in the Delta Quadrant have been dealing with them for a long time, but they are a threat to us all. The Republic experienced first hand the destructive ways of the Borg less than two weeks ago. We must thank the United Federation of Planets and in particular Captain Jean-Luc Picard for their part in this. The Republic owns you a life dept and we will not forget this. We must also thank the others who helped."

"Our ambassadors will show you exactly what the Borg have done, but here I will say this. They steal the very essence of people. They take away free will. They will take every individual they can and use them as they see fit. We must strike this enemy now. The Milky Way galaxy could not handle the problem alone and neither would our old one have been able to. But together, we can ensure that everyone keeps their free will."

"The Republic wishes to form a Grand Coalition. Whatever each civilization can provide, will be most appreciated. Together we can save the galaxy. To show that we are committed to the integration of our galaxies, we ask that a member of your galaxy lead the coalition. If not for this man, it is likely that Coruscant would now be an assimilated planet. Captain Jean-Luc Picard, will you lead the forces of the galaxy against the Borg?"

Picard slowly stood up. Of all the things that could be happening now, this was nothing he ever could have foreseen. He was being asked to lead a galaxy wide effort to destroy the Borg. He wasn't sure that he was the best for this. Despite success, he was not a general or a military leader. Still what could he say? "Thank you Supreme Chancellor, I am honored and will lead as long as it's felt that I am the best person for the job."

"Thank you Captain. This Great War began with the Battle of Coruscant. Hopefully it will end with the destruction of the Borg."

Anakin had just left Voyager where he had talked to Janeway for the first time and was now heading to see Padme again. He had barely left her side for the first day. After that she had enough strength to tell him others would definitely become suspicious soon, if they weren't already, and he needed to leave. She was now back on Coruscant and he could visit her more freely, but he knew questions might be in people's minds. Oh well, he was going to see his wife.

He did have a lot of questions to answer. He had taken a ship without consulting anyone (which had just dropped out of hyperspace a day after the battle empty), and that was just were questions would start. He thought there was a good chance someone would figure out that he had married Padme. Still, it wasn't a certainty. Obi-Wan was really worried, but Anakin just responded to this, by avoiding his questions entirely.

Anakin thought about these things and what he would do. Then all that was pushed from his mind. He wasn't on Coruscant anymore. The area around him seemed to be all white light coming from all sides.

"Welcome Anakin."

"Captain Sisko."

"You know longer need to use captain, and Ben will be fine."

"Where have you taken me?"

"Don't worry. I'll take you back the exact moment you left off. No one will know you were gone."

"You know you got me in a lot of trouble."

"Sorry."

"Where is this place?"

"This is the Celestial Temple. I am now truly the Emissary and my job is to prepare you."

"Prepare me. For what?"

"For the Merging."

"What do you mean?"

"The merging was started when the Profits decided to unite our universes. It isn't complete yet though."

"When will it be?"

"When you bring balance to the Force."

Thanks for reading this story. I hope you enjoyed it. I know the writing itself is nothing great, and the punctuation probably isn't very good, but I hope the ideas made up for those flaws. I don't know whether I'll write Episode II or not. I've a general idea of what would happen there and throughout the rest of a nine-episode story, but I doubt that I'll ever write all that. This took a long time for me to write, and if there is an Episode II, it will probably awhile before it comes out. I really need to read Star Wars Episode III first, and time is limited. Thanks again.

[post notes from 2011: I know basically what is going to happen and it will be a 6 part rather than a 9 part series]


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